


First we were Young Volcanoes then I got Lost in You but This ‘Aint a Scene it's a Goddamn Arms Race so get on with our Magical Mystery Tour

by MarionetteFtHJM



Category: Sherlock (TV), Supernatural
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - High School, Bad Parenting, Bad Puns, Being Lost, Bus, Croatia, Cultural References, Dean Being Dean, Deductions, Deus Ex Machina, F/M, Google Maps, Helpful Sherlock, Humor, Kidnapping, London, Lost in London, Love Triangles, M/M, Mild Language, Original characters being goofy, Protective Dean Winchester, Road Trips, Sam Is So Done, Sherlock Being Sherlock, Slang, Teachers pay absolutely no attention to their students, Teenage Drama, Teenlock, The internet helps, and helpful, classic warehouse hideouts, cursing, fangirling, mild homofobia, minimum angst, reckless teenagers, seriously
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-03
Updated: 2015-09-30
Packaged: 2017-12-31 09:28:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 42,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1030063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarionetteFtHJM/pseuds/MarionetteFtHJM
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Follow Dean, Cas and their crew on an epic adventure through the city of London where they will encounter some trouble, a young detective, numerous references and some bad puns. A little less than epic romance takes place but when their plans of cuddling and snogging get interrupted by a bad-guy what will they do and will they survive without getting lost in the big city?  The OCs are really upset about their almost sinking ship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, hi!  
> This story takes place in Croatia. (It's a country, google it if you don't know where it is.)  
> My co-writer is the lovely HJM and we will probably only use this profile for this story.  
> (Maybe some others, who knows.)  
> This is still a work in progress, so be patient.  
> The title happened by accident.  
> We couldn't decide so we compromised.  
> It's by Fall Out Boy, Three Days Grace and The Beatles.  
> I thought I'd never write an OC story but, shit happens.  
> Hope you enjoy :)  
> Check us out on ff.net   
> Marionette008  
> HermioneJMalfoy   
> Disclaimer: Don't own anything except for the lovable OCs!  
> P.S- Tags may change

On a sunny, April Monday morning, Dean woke up with a headache. He groaned; he couldn't wait for this hell to be over. Getting up for, yet another, day of torture the first thing he did was to stub his toe.

 _This day just keeps getting better and better_ , he thought. He pinched the bridge of his nose, and willed the pain away.

"Deeean!" a voice pierced through his ears, "Dean, are you ready yet? You need to drive me to school!"

He groaned again. ''I'm up, but not ready!'' he shouted. _Gee, this kid is up before the birds are,_ Dean thought. He remembered the time when he was as enthusiastic about school as Sammy is today. Those days were long gone, though.

Moving over to the wardrobe, he sighed deeply. Mondays were the worst. He had worst subjects, worst teachers and the traffic was just unbearable. He threw on some pants and a green shirt. Running a hand through his hair, he pulled open the curtains and smiled brightly. Down at the parking lot was his baby. Standing sleek, black and proud. The '67 Chevy Impala.

Sammy was banging on his door now. "Dean, what do you think you're doing? I don't want to be late! I have Geography the first class and you know the teacher is strict!" Dean shuddered, God no, the Geography teacher. Her name was Inja, and if the gossips were true-which they probably were- she had a crush on Dean. Talk about inappropriate.

“Chill, Sam,” What a teacher's pet that kid was. The best student in his generation and an editor of the school's newspaper.

He snapped open the door when Sam wouldn't quit banging against it. ''I said calm down; we still have, like, half an hour to get there. Don't get your nerdy knickers in a twist.''

His little brother huffed and rolled his eyes, his school bag already swung over one shoulder. "I'll just wait in the car," he said, grabbing the keys and hurrying off.

Dean glared at his lanky brother as he took off. He chuckled and went back to his room to get ready for another day of perdition.

10 minutes later, he found his brother on the passenger's seat, tapping the screen of his phone. Probably talking to that girl Jess again.

“Oh, look who finally decided to show up” Sam said when Dean slumped into the driver's seat.

“Can it, lover boy. We still have plenty of time,” Dean said and turned the key. The Impala purred as it came to life. He ran a hand over the dashboard and smiled fondly.

“Would you two like some time alone?” Sam asked with a raised eyebrow. Dean grumbled in response, and turned on the radio.

Sam groaned as the first tones of “Back in Black” screamed out of the speakers. Dean smiled; the kid could never stomach classic rock. They pulled out of the parking lot, and made their way towards the school.

 -----

Having reached their destination, Sam jumped out of the car and rushed over to another brown haired boy. The guy’s name was Gabriel. They met only a few months ago, when Sam started his first year at high school, but they were quickly becoming best friends. Dean smiled, glad for his brother. His smile faltered quickly as a girl approached him.

“’Morning, Dean!” said Rose. Dean tried to bring back the smile. Rose was nice, he liked her, and she was a good friend. Friend. It seems like her brain couldn’t quite comprehend that word and its meaning.

“Hey, Rose,” Dean said and then nodded at the other girl, the one with long black hair on one side of the head and shaved on the other.

“Yo,” was all that she, Alex, could muster. She averted her gaze. There was an awkward silence, and Dean cleared his throat, “’s there anything I can do for you on this fine morning?'' He asked with a slightly fake smile.

Alex produced an animalistic sound at the back of her throat. Rose just shook her head, blushing some more, embarrassed about her friend’s behaviour. Sure, Dean was hot, but Rose never hoped for anything from him. She glared at Alex, “No, nothing. Thanks, uh-we have to go!”

She dragged Alex after her, but Alex turned around, smirking at him. Dean raised an eyebrow. She winked at him and in the next moment she was gone. Dean sighed. He really didn’t know what he expected.

“Yeah, I’m just going to go now,” he said to no one in particular and went to find his other classmates. He made his way to the front of the school where two of his closest friends were standing. They both smiled warmly as they saw him.

“Winchester!” The taller boy chirped.

“Charles, Dan. Always a pleasure.'' he smiled.

''Saw you got blocked by the dynamic duo,'' Chuck said.

Dean sighed, ''Yeah. They mean well, but they're weird.''

“Aren’t we all a little weird?”

“No, seriously,” Dan joined, “I thought I had a shot with Alex when we had those creepy eye contacts on the bus last year, but she could only keep talking about you.”

“Let me get this straight,” Chuck continued, “you did tell them you’re gay, right?”

“Yeah, I did. Sadly, that doesn't stop them from ogling,” Dean looked around to see where they were. He spotted them immediately, since they were accompanied by Mela and her bright green hair, and Gordana. They were another two of his classmates.

Charles laughed at Dean's face expression, “I feel you man.”

Dan chuckled, “Not that I’m interested, but what’s up with that Gordana?”

Gordana was always standing a few steps away from everyone else and kept acting weird in general. Friendly as Dean was, he tried to get to know Gordana a few times, but failed miserably. So he just shrugged off his friend’s question.

“Beats me.”

“Yeah, Dan, try not to wreck your brain over it.” Charles smirked and Dan made a face.

“Guys, we need to get going,” Dean reminded them and lead the way to the school. They had History the first period. Professor Michael was a cool guy and he really tried to make the class interesting. You could exactly see he is very passionate about it, but he didn’t manage to transfer that passion to Dean.

“I see you're thrilled to have History.” Charles said, as they entered the History classroom. Walls were covered with historical maps and posters. It seemed like some faint smell always lingered in this classroom and if you squinted really hard, you could see dust dancing in the air.

Dean grunted, “I just don't see the point of learning things that had already happened.”

Dan sighed, “We learn it so we that we know what not to do in the future.”

“Yeah, like I'd go and drop an atom bomb onto Hiro-what's-its-name,” Dean replied.

Charles shook his head, ''Hiroshima, Dean, and that's not the point.”

He looked at Dean's bored face, “I give up.” He raised his hands up in surrender and Dan laughed.

“You know Dean, Historia est magistra vitae,” Dan looked at him pointedly.

Dean groaned, “Great, we have Latin too.”

“Latin’s after lunch, you still have time to copy the homewo…” the bell cut off the rest of Dan’s sentence. Dean sat in the last row with Dan, and Charles sat at the bench in front of them. Alex and Rose passed by them and sat at the far right side of the room, with Alex giggling the whole time and Rose biting her lip, trying to suppress the blush on her cheeks. Behind them, a tall guy whispered oh-not-so-quietly, “You two do realize Dean’s gay, right?”

“We know. We just hope he changes his mind,” Alex said dreamily.

“I mean,” the guy, whose name was Goliath, pretended not to hear and continued his monologue, “Even if he didn’t come out in front of everyone, I’d know. I recognize a gay person when I see one. Isn’t that right, darling?”

He lovingly looked at the guy sitting next to him and put a hand on his thigh. The lanky blonde opened his mouth too say something, but Goliath was faster.

“David here didn’t even know he’s gay until I made him see it.”

Rose chuckled, “You do know David can speak for himself.”

David smirked as blush crept onto Goliath’s cheeks.

“Thank you Rose, besides we saw him last summer making out with a guy. Where was it?” David looked at his boyfriend.

“Um, down by the old Castle?”

“'Yeah, that's the place.”

Rose quirked a brow, “What were you two doing-“ She was cut off by Alex's hand.

“Stop, we don't want to know!” Alex lifted her black glasses up her nose a little further. Just as Goliath was about to sass something back the professor entered the classroom.

“Good morning,” a tall, dark haired man with astonishing facial features said.

“Good morning,” the class chanted back and slowly fell quiet. Professor Michael cleared his throat.

“Class, I have some news for you.” He saw puzzled expressions on their faces and continued, “A new student will be joining you for the rest of the year. He travelled all the way from Amsterdam and…”

Dean chuckled, “Who would trade Amsterdam for this place,” he whispered to Dan.

“Mr. Winchester, please. As I was saying, I have the honour to present you your new classmate, Castiel Novak.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates will be on Saturdays  
> Probably

Dean snorted as he heard the name- what kind of person names their kid _Castiel._ He turned to look at the guy.

 _Wow_.  
He was captivated by the guys’ eyes.

They were an otherworldly shade of blue, drawing the attention away from the guy's black dishevelled hair and plump lips.

“Dean,” Dan elbowed him in the ribs, “close yer mouth boy, you’re drooling all over the place.”

Dean blinked and followed his friend’s advice. Castiel seemed not to notice this exchange; he was focused on the professor, ready to follow his orders.

“Right, Castiel, you can take a seat at the back of the class next to Charles,” Professor Michael smiled and pushed him gently towards the back of the room.

“But where's Hayley going to sit when she comes back?” Charles asked.

Professor sighed, “We'll figure something out. Now go.”

Charles turned to Dean and Dan and made a face. Dan shrugged, but Dean suddenly had the urge to dig through his whole backpack and hide his face.

Castiel sat down. He looked at the Charles’s offered hand and shook it gingerly, “My name is Castiel, nice to meet you.”

“Charles, welcome to hell, I mean,” he smiled, “welcome to our school.”

Edges of Castiel’s lips slightly turned upwards, “How bad can it be? It’s just a school.”

“Yes, exactly,” Dan said, “It’s a _school_. You don’t need another reason to hate it.”

“These are my friends,” Charles added, “Dean and Dan.”

So it was finally time for Dean to officially meet Castiel. He watched as Dan shook hands with him. He didn’t know what was happening to him; he was acting like a little schoolgirl. He wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans and extended his arm.

Castiel took his hand, smiling slightly as Dean blushed, “Uh- as Chuck said. Welcome.” Dean quickly pretended to find teachers scrawls on the board interesting and busied himself with writing them down. Castiel looked at Charles, the other just shrugged.

He leaned in closer and whispered, “Did I do something wrong? I know I’m not from around here but I thought the customs were fairly similar,” he said with a stoic face.

Charles chuckled quietly, “Nah man, you did fine. Dean gets a little flustered from time to time.”

For the rest of the period, Dean managed to successfully pretend like he was actually paying attention to the lesson. Professor Michael, not used to his enthusiasm, even praised him, causing Dean to almost literally start glowing.

After History, they had P.E.

\-----

They went on the tracks and Professor Nick made them run for 15 minutes. By the end of it, Dan was completely out of breath and even Dean was breathing heavily.

“What kind of demon…” Charles was fighting for air, “possessed him and told him to make us do this...”

“I bet,” Dan wheezed, “it was the Devil himself.” He collapsed onto the grass next to the track.

Castiel, on the other hand, was red in the face and his chest was heaving, but he wasn’t at the edge of dying, like some people. 

He stretched and walked around the track once more. Dean's yaw dropped.

“What the hell?” he asked.

“Is he for real? How is he not dying right now?” Charles asked. Dan sat up and looked at Castiel, laughed and fell onto the ground again, “No comment.”

 Castiel stopped next to the guys and smiled.

“Cas, man, what's your secret?” Charles asked because Dean was too busy blushing and Dan was dying.

“I'm not sure, we used to run for much longer time periods back home.” he shrugged as the teacher called them back in line. Dean helped Dan up and they stumbled towards the devil.

“You did well,” Professor Nick said, “well, most of you.” Dan smiled faintly.

“You have the rest of the lesson free,” he glanced at his watch, “Oh, and I hear we have a new student?” He looked around, searching for a new face.

Castiel stepped out as other students split into groups and parted away.

“Come on, Dean, a little help here,” Charles said, making Dean look at him instead of jealously eavesdropping Castiel’s conversation. Dan was leaning onto Charles now; although Dan’s mostly recovered by now, he liked to exaggerate a bit.

“Fine, I’m coming.”

Closely behind followed Alex and Rose. Goliath joined them, since David dashed off to God knows where.

“So, what do you think of the new kid?” asked Alex.

Rose thought for a moment before answering, “Overall, I like him. He seems kind of shy, but that’s natural, this _is_ his first day, after all.”

“Yes, that’s all right and fine, but did you see the way Dean looked at him?”

Rose sighed, “Alex we talked about this. He's gay.”

 Alex let out an exasperated huff, “I know, but a girl can hope. Can't she?”

 Goliath cleared his throat, “Besides, didn't you have a thing going on with Dan? He seems nice.”

Alex blushed, “Yeah, I kind of screwed that up. It’s history now anyways.”

 Rose chuckled, earning weird looks from her companions. She pointed up front where Dan was mimicking dying of thirst, or crawling through the desert. When he stood up and looked around he noticed the people looking at him, including Alex. They stared at each other for a bit until he blushed and turned away.

“See? See?!” Goliath pointed, overly excited about his prophetic ability.

“We see, Goliath,” Alex tried to stay composed, but she was blushing furiously. She never really got over that little crush on Dan, but it was easier to like a gay person. That way you at least know why the person doesn’t like you back. That way you don’t really hope to get your feeling returned.

“Hey, guys, wait up!”

Both groups turned around and saw Castiel running in general direction. He waved at the girls and Goliath as he passed by. Since he was obviously interested in someone else, they continued about their business, while Castiel jogged towards the boys.

Alex twirled the pentagram pedant around her neck while she walked.

 Rose elbowed Goliath, “See what you did. Now she's going to get all depressed and I'm going to have to deal with her for the whole day."

“I'm right here you know,” Alex glared at Rose.

\-----

“Dan, dude, you got to man up already,” Charles grinned at Dan's red face, as Castiel casually slowed from jogging to walking.

“I told you already, she's only interested in Dean,” Dan groaned and ran a hand through his damp brown hair, messing up his fringes even more.

“Yeah, but Dean's gay,” Charles reminded.

Dean blushed, “Dude, can you repeat that. I don’t think Alaska heard you!”

Castiel turned around and raised an eyebrow, slightly eying Dean. Dean faltered under the stare and looked to the side. Castiel looked at Charles, the right corner of his lips twitching slightly. He turned back around and resumed walking. The boys were barely able to contain their laughter. _Freaking great_ , Dean thought to himself.

“So what’s this that I hear about Dan and… What’s that girl’s name again?” Castiel asked, changing the subject.

“The raven-haired one is Alex and the brown curly one is Rose,” explained Charles, “and our friend Dan here,” he patted him on the shoulder, “has fell head-over-heels for Alex.”

They entered the locker rooms. As the boys talked, Dean was a little distracted because, well, Cas started stripping. Dean made extra effort and got in the shower first. The cold water came as a shock, but it helped him recover. He barely had enough time to shower before Castiel showed up. He blushed, tripped over some invisible box and quickly grabbed the towel. Making his way out he mentally slapped himself.

He passed by a few other guys. When they noticed him, one of them sniggered, “Cover up, guys, the faggot is coming!”

“Very funny, Gordon,” Dean rolled his eyes at him. He learnt not to pay attention to these kind of remarks a long time ago. Words couldn’t hurt him anymore.

 God, this Monday had no end.

“What’s the rush, man?” Charles smirked at him, but Dan was lost in his own thoughts.

“Meet me at the cafeteria for lunch,” Dean said, pulling his shirt on.

He was walking through the empty school corridors towards the school cafeteria. In his mind, he was already stuffing himself with pie. He was in the clouds, forgetting to watch his steps, when he almost fell face first on the floor.

“Yo, watch it,” he said when he realized that he almost tripped over someone’s legs. He looked down, only to see some dark haired boy crouching on the floor. The guy looked familiar; Dean scanned his memory.

“You go to class with Sam Winchester?”

The boy finally looked up, his pale eyes watery, “Yes.” He paused, “Are you his brother?”

Dean nodded.

“He talks about you a lot. You’re his idol.”

Dean smiled brightly, “You're Adam, right? Milligan?” Dean asked as he offered a hand. The boy nodded and shook his hand. Dean frowned, “Why are you sitting here by yourself?”

 The boy shrugged. Dean hauled him up and smiled, “Come on, whatever it is, it can’t be that bad. And ditching your classes won’t solve anything. What were you having?”

“Maths.”

 _This is a talkative one_ , thought Dean. He felt sorry for Adam-he knew how tough growing up can be-and he made a mental note to himself to remind Sam to keep an eye out for Adam.

“Now listen to me, Adam. You are going to walk in that class and you’re going to walk in with your head up. Don’t ever let people get you down, you understand me?”

The tiniest of smiles appeared on Adam’s face. They walked in silence for a while and they finally reached the Maths classroom.

“Guess that’s it,” Dean patted him on the shoulder and turned to go, “Say hi to Sam for me, ok?”

“Dean?” Adam squeaked.

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.” 

\------

When Dean finally settled at their usual table, the bell rang. _So much about a few moments of peace_ , Dean thought. Only a few moments later, the cafeteria started filling with people. Dan and Charles followed soon after, carrying their trays.

Dean’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, “Where’s Cas?”

Dan laughed, “Clingy much? You’ve met him 2 hours ago!”

“It’s not that,” Dean blushed, “I’m just worried. He’s new at school and might get lost.”

“Well he obviously didn’t get lost,” Charles pointed to a bush of black hair threading its way through the crowd.

“So, we agree? He cool? We invite him to our table?” Dan asked, already raising his hand and trying to catch Castiel’s eyes. He waved, as the other two were nodding in agreement.

Castiel saw Dan waving at him; he started moving in between people gracefully until a hand grabbed his wrist.

\------

“Hey Cas, join us,” the girl, Rose, smiled and Cas didn't have the heart to say no.

Alex saw Rose dragging Cas over to their table. She quirked a brow, “Rose what are you doing?”

“Well I invited Cas to sit with us!” she chirped.

 Alex sighed, “You don’t have to be here if you don’t want to, Cas. You can go and have lunch with the guys.” She smiled at him.

Cas frowned, a plan forming in his head, “Come on,” he said, “and bring your trays.”

“Cas, what-” Rose started.

“We’re all having lunch together,” he smiled. Like, full on smiled and they both nodded dumbly.

He dragged them over to the boys' table, and they all sat down.

 


	3. Chapter 3

Dean scooted closer to Dan to make space for Cas and his tray. Pursing her lips in disappovment, Alex sat at the far end of the bench, leaving only the place next to Charles free. Feeling overall awkward, Rose seated herself next to the tall brown-haired boy. 

Cas cleared his throat and looked at Dean, “I hope you don't mind, but they asked me to sit with them and I wanted to sit with you but also them so I made them join us.” Cas rambled a little as he blushed.

Everyone was quiet, and then Charles cleared his throat, “Well,” he started, “this is awkward.”

Rose giggled nervously, and lowered her gaze toward her Caesarean salad. Alex rolled her eyes, “Now that we’ve established that it’s awkward, and made it more awkward by pointing it out,” people nodded in agreement and Alex turned to Cas, “I’d like to know more about you. Professor Michael said you were from Amsterdam? How come you moved to Croatia?”

Cas raised his head from his hamburger. “I'm sorry, what was that?” he asked.

Alex huffed; she didn’t like repeating herself, “I asked: why have you moved here to this God forsaken land.”

“O-oh!” Castiel's confidence seemed to fade. He chewed on for a few extra moments before replying, “You know, change of scenery.” He shrugged gingerly.

“Lucky you,” Rose said, “I always wanted to travel around the world.  Or at least see as many countries as possible.”

“I second that,” Dan nodded, “Can’t wait till we go to London.”

“Hold up, guys,” Cas said, confusion written all over his pretty face, “Who is going to London?”

Charles opened his mouth, but Dean rushed to explain “It’s a school field trip. We’re going in three weeks and we’ll stay there for 12 days. Well, 10 days actually, since we are travelling by bus, it takes us 2 days to get there and back.”

Cas raised his eyebrows, “Why not simply travel by plane?”

“Well Castiel,” Alex said, “Not everyone has the money to hop on the plane whenever they like, just for the change of _scenery_.”

Dan smirked, “Besides, some people can't handle planes. Isn't that right, Dean?'”

Dean blushed furiously and raised a finger at him, “Hey, man, those things are dangerous!” he pointed out and everybody chuckled.

 “As a matter of fact, Alex doesn't like planes either,” Rose grinned as Dan and Alex blushed.

 Dan looked away and scratched the back of his neck in a nervous gesture; “I'm sorry, I didn't know...” Dan trailed off.

Alex sighed, “It's fine.”

Dan wanted to bang his head on the desk repeatedly, but he couldn’t do it in public so he settled for a mental slap. How does one manage to fail at every attempt of conversation with the person they like?

Alex swung her black hair on the other shoulder, trying to cover as much of her face as possible. She could already feel the blush on her cheeks, but she decided not to let Dan see how much he still affects her. She wheeled the conversation around, turning to Charles, “Well you’ve been awfully quiet today. Cat got your tongue?”

Rose scoffed, “Wow, Alex, what a subtle change of the subject. I’m sure no one will notice.”

Charles just stared at them, then after a moment he squinted. He sat up right, held out a hand and said, _“What's in a name? That which we call Rose, by any other name would smell as sweet.”_

Rose's head fell onto the table next to her salad as they all started laughing.

Charles smirked and turned to Alex, “How's that for a conversation.”

Alex clapped slowly, “I must say, I'm impressed. Didn't know you had it in you.” They all nodded in agreement while Rose groaned. Charles patted her back sympathetically but it didn't help. His hand lingered at the small of her back just a moment too long.

Dean cleared his throat. “Lunch break is almost over, we should get going.”

“Excellent idea,” Rose jumped on her feet, almost knocking Charles’s tray, and continued “We wouldn’t want to be late for Latin, right? And I need to go wash my hands first.” She dashed off. Charles smirked lazily and strolled after her.

Dan and Alex left the table together, but Cas still hasn’t finished his hamburger.

“Want me to wait up for you?” Dean offered.

“If you want to,” Cas said casually, but inside he was doing a little victory dance. He really liked this guy. He was funny and he was hot. If History class was anything to judge by, he was smart too. What else do you need in a guy?

“Greetings,” Gordana said, passing by. Dean nodded, but Gordana already left.

Swallowing the last mouthful, Cas apologised, “Sorry this took so long, but hamburgers are my favourite food. They make me very happy, and  I just want to savour every bite of it.”

\------

Sam watched his brother interact with the new kid. He watched the slight glimmer in Dean's eyes as his big brother looked at the guy. Sam smirked knowingly; oh, his brother was so falling for this kid. A wave of a hand brought Sam back to reality.

“Helloou, Earth to Winchester. Let's go we have Chemistry,” Gabriel smiled at him. Sam shook his head, a slight smile still playing on his lips. “Relax, Professor’s probably still sick. And by the looks of it she'll stay that way for a while.”

“Still, I want to finish my candy bar in peace before whatever substitute arrives,” Gabriel fished out a Snickers bar out of his pocket and grinned. Sam nodded and they left for class.

\------

Out of the corner of his eye, Dean saw Sam and his friend leave. _Wait_ , Dean squinted; _did Sam just wink at me?_

Was he that obvious? Did everyone already know about this crush of his? Was it even a crush? He knew the guy for 3 hours, for God’s sake! How did this happen?

“Dean, you alright?”

Dean shook his head, clearing his mind, “Yeah, sorry, let’s just go. We have class.” Dean pulled him by the arm, but instantly dropped it.

Cas silently followed, slightly frowning. Did he do something wrong? Why the sudden change in Dean’s behavior? He looked at the boy in front of him. He could see the muscles moving underneath the shirt. He was so deep in his thought that he almost bumped into Dean.

“Here we are,” Dean guided him into the classroom.

As they entered the classroom Charles waved to Cas, motioning for him to come over. They were seated almost the same, except this time Dean and Dan were at his right. Suddenly the teacher entered and the room fell silent.

Dean felt his blood freeze over as the woman entered. Dan leaned in and whispered, ''is it just me or did it get colder in here.'' Dean nodded in affirmation. She was a nice lady but she was a dictator when it came to grading tests and correcting homework.

“Are there any volunteers?” she asked without any unnecessary into.

Cas leaned towards Charles, “Volunteers for what?”

“Oral examination. But you’re safe, you just got here.”

She looked around the room, “Since there are no volunteers, two of you will be orally examined.” The class groaned. She opened up her little notebook and flipped through a few pages, “ Castiel Novak?” She exclaimed and frowned.

Cas looked at Chuck, “So, I’m safe?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.

Charles gave him a sheepish smile and nudged him, “Stand up, Cas.” Castiel did as he was told.

 She raised an eyebrow, “You must be new. Excellent, let's see what you know.” Castiel walked over to the front of the classroom. “You have taken Latin before?” She asked.

Castiel shook his head, “We didn’t have it as a regular at school, but I’ve taken a few classes.”

“Oh?” she quirked an eyebrow at him, “Alright then.”

Dean watched as the Professor shot questions at Cas. The guy didn’t even stutter. It was like…It was amazing. Dean was pretty sure his mouth was gaping open, but this time he didn’t even try to cover it up. The whole class was staring at Cas. Even the teacher was slightly taken aback. Two minutes later, she quietly wrote a huge A under his name and closed her notebook.

“I won’t question anyone else today,” she said, “You can thank your new classmate for this.” She smiled warmly at Cas and sent back to his desk.

Dean randomly started clapping and soon the whole class followed. Cas blushed and bowed a little, which made them clap even more.

“Look who just became teacher’s pet AND our person of the day,” Charles shouted over the noise and Cas smiled. He might like this place after all.


	4. Chapter 4

School got a little better over the next two weeks for Dean. He got closer to Cas, made new friends and Alex stopped glaring at them every time they were near. Heck, even his Latin improved thanks to Cas and all the time they spent together. They started eating lunch together every day; it became his favourite time of the day. Well, right next to the time he spent working on his baby. Sammy seemed to be an endless source of cheesy comments and teases. He took pride in making Dean squirm and blush just by mentioning Cas' name-Dean hated it. Except, he didn't.

He did however hate that new chick that tagged along with Dan. Her name was Tessa, she was a blonde and supposedly she and Dan were a thing. She took to sitting with them at lunch. She was in the other grade, thankfully, so they only saw her during recess. But that was enough. She couldn’t stop talking about how great Dan is and how happy they are. Dan, however, seemed not to notice. He even willingly took selfies with her.

It was driving Alex mad.

“I mean, first we have that moment in Geography class, and the next day he has a girlfriend?!” Alex whined on the phone.

“Wait, what moment? You didn’t tell me anything about the moment!” Rose replied.

“Uh, well,” Alex stuttered, “He helped me with a task. We had to do some charts, I don’t know, and he showed me what to do.”

“And by show, you mean, he did the whole thing by himself and you just stood there?”

“Something like that, but that’s not the point!”

Rose huffed, “M-hmm. And what exactly _is_ the point? What do you expect from the poor guy? First you swoon over his gay friend and then act totally uninterested.”

“I wasn’t acting as I’m uninterested! And if you and Charles took one moment to stop ogling at each other, you would’ve noticed it!”

“Wait, what, I’m not...”

“Yeah, sure, Rose. Whatever, and I don't like Bring Me the Horizon and the grass isn't green.” Alex huffed a laugh.

 “Off topic!” Rose squealed, “Where was I, oh yeah. _UNINTERESTED_ , Alex, you can't just act like that. You got to give the guy something.” Rose said as she put her favourite shirts into the bag. They were packing for London.

“Can we not,” Alex whined.

“Fine, okay. You called me anyway,” Rose mumbled.

Alex sighed, “Listen I'll talk to you tomorrow. Got to get stuff ready for Saturday.”

Rose nodded to herself, “Yeah, fine. See you at school.”

\------

Dan sat with Alex and Dean at their usual spot for lunch as they waited for the rest of the gang to show up. Before they did, Tessa came. She rudely pushed Alex away from Dan and sat in between them. She kissed his cheek loudly and Dean winced at the noise. He looked sympathetically at Alex while she glared daggers at the blonde disaster. ''Do you mind, I was actually talking to Dan.'' Alex gritted out. _Oh shit_ , Dean thought as he saw where this was leading.

Tessa pursed her lips, making a duckface, “As a matter of fact, I do mind. Dan here,” she patted his cheek, “is _my_ boyfriend and we were having a nice time until just a few moments ago.”

“Tessa,” Dan groaned. What has he done?

“Hush, darling,” Tessa said and turned back to Alex, “As I was saying, you need to back off.”

Alex pulled a fake smile-teeth flashing and dimples showing. She curled her fingers in a fist, and for a moment, Dean was scared that she was really going to punch that bitch in the face (he was kind of hoping she would). And then something inside her broke down; she sat upright and cleared her throat.

“I do apologise if I hath offended you in any way Tessa, dear,” Alex spoke with an apprising tone. “But I hath striken up a conversation with Dan over here about the possibility of relative universes. We had been converastioning about the universe where physics is easier than micro biology or defusing a gram of C4 attached to multicoloured wires."

Tessa stared at her disbelievingly. Dean let out a low whistle as she picked up her tray and walked away. Alex smiled brightly and stabbed the salad with her, now bent, fork.

“Umm,” Dan started, slightly scared, “Thanks, I guess.”

“She’s your girlfriend, you’re supposed to defend her,” Alex shot back and marched out, following Tessa’s example. She was still mad at Dan. That two-faced prick.

Dan sighed, wishing to be a plant or something. Why was life so complicated? How did he get into this mess?

“Women,” he muttered.

Dean nodded, “I feel you, bro. That’s why I gave up on women.”

Dan chuckled, "yes, I'm sure that's the reason."

Dean glared and threw a French fry at him. They were soon joined by the expecting company. Charles, Cas and Rose.

“Just saw Alex and Tessa storm out of the cafeteria. What was that all about?” Charles asked as he sat down next to Rose.

“Did you have a fall out, boys?” Cas said, lowering himself next to Dean.

Dean squinted, thinking, “Did you… Did you just use a pun from Ellen’s show?”

Cas blushed, “I might have.”

Dean smiled and started chatting with Cas about how awesome Ellen is.

Charles chuckled, “Look at those lovebirds,” he said silently to Rose. “How long do you think it’ll take them to bang?”

“Chaaarles,” Rose moaned, hitting him on the shin under the table, “Language, please. And don’t let them hear you.”

"What, everybody's thinking it!" He looked at Dan, and Dan nodded.

Rose huffed "You should stop worrying about other people's personal lives, Charles."

Charles chuckled, "Sure, whatever, oh wife dear." He teased, making Rose blush yet again.

Dan watched them quietly, still wondering how his life became a mess. What did he do? Really, he was a nice quiet guy who finally got a girlfriend and now this. He sighed and pushed the mashed potatoes around his plate.

He glanced at Charles and Rose again. They seemed so happy and they weren’t even dating. Yet. He looked at the other side and saw the exact same situation going on with Dean and Cas. _Are you freaking kidding me_ , he thought. How did he end up being the unhappy one when he was the only one in a relationship?

He cleared his throat, “Sorry to interrupt, but Dean, we’re sitting together in the bus tomorrow?”

Dean nodded, “Yeah man.”

“Oh I can’t wait,” Rose exclaimed, jumping happily in her seat.

Charles looked at Cas, "You with me dude?" Cas seemed to think it over and then he nodded. Rose stood up, "I'm going to go find Alex and I'll meet you guys in class." She smiled at them and left.

 ------

Alex was in the bathroom, fuming. She was replaying the whole scene over and over in her head. She finally concluded that she did well, when Rose found her. She was almost skipping, but then she saw the dark expression on Alex’s face.

“Oh,” she said, realizing that they still don’t know what happened between Tessa and Alex, “So, want to tell me what was all that about?”

Alex sniffed, “Long story short, Tessa is a dumb bitch and Dan is a horny male. I honestly don’t know what I expected.”

“Oh, Alex,” Rose said, “Don’t you think you might be overreacting?”

Alex groaned, “I don’t know! How would you feel if Charles started making out with another girl in front of you?”

Rose straightened herself, “a) I don’t think he’d do that. b) Even if he did, what do I have to do with that anyway? It’s not like we’re together or anything, and c) how do you always turn the conversation on me?”

Alex huffed, “It’s a talent.”

\------

Sam had taken the bus home and was already there. Dean dropped the keys into the bowl and dropped his bag in the middle of the hall.

"Dean Winchester! You better pick that bag up right this instant!" Mary shouted from the kitchen, knowing every move Dean made. Dean mumbled and picked his bag up again.

"Hi mum," he entered the kitchen where Mary was baking something. "Mm pie, smells heavenly." Dean smiled as she turned around and patted his cheek. "It will be ready soon, go tell Sammy."

Dean nodded and dashed off to his brother’s room. When he entered he saw Sam pulling out clothes from his wardrobe. "Heya  Samsquatch, whatcya doin'?"

 Sam looked at him and rolled his eyes. "Packing," he said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"That's cool, but where are you going?" Dean asked.

 "Um, London." Sam said and continued looking around his room, going through drawers and papers.

"What!?"

“Professor Michael offered Gabe and me to go with you guys. This is an excellent opportunity to do some research by ourselves, for the newspaper,” Sam recited, systematically going through all the stuff he needs to bring.

Dean groaned, will he really have to babysit Sam? A trip to London was supposed to be his getaway.

“Don’t you think you should’ve consulted mum and dad about this?”

“Professor Michael already checked with our parents before he notified me. And Gabe, of course, knew even earlier.”

“Look, if you expect me to take you by the hand and walk you through London…”

“Oh, no,” Sam rushed to explain, “I’ll barely see you. Gabe and I will be staying in the house with Professor Michael and Professor Inja.”

Dean coughed, “Teacher’s pet.”

Sam sighed over-dramatically and shooed Dean out of the room. He slammed the door in his face.

“Mum says there’ll be pie, by the way,” Dean yelled, but got no response.

 _This is going to be a long trip_ , he thought


	5. Chapter 5

Mornings were a Bitch, with a capital B. Dean hated getting up early. But today was the exception.

It was 5 a.m. and they were standing out on some clearing where the bus was supposed to show up. He felt nervous and jittery; he got absolutely no sleep last night. And by the looks of his fellow classmates, he'd say they didn't either. Dan huffed and it came out like a fog, they chuckled. Soon they were imitating smoking. The girls just rolled their eyes. The bus arrived.

 Dean looked around and saw a familiar ginger haired girl making her way away from the bus with the tall blond haired dude.

“Hey Hayley, the bus is this way! Where ya going?” Dean shouted with a smirk. She turned around and flipped him off.

''Mind your own business, Winchester!'' She shouted back with a grin.

''Hayley you're gonna be late! Stop sneaking off to make out with Matt and come back!'' Dan shouted at his cousin. She laugh and just waved at them.

''Them crazy kids and their kissing.'' Charles laughed.

The next few minutes were hell; the anticipation and the cold were killing them. Their P.E. teacher was going with them, he was intrusted the task of controlling the teens, and he was now insisting they all stand in two lines while he called their names.

''Okay let’s start, nobody is moving from this spot until all of you are here.'' He called out the first few by their last name, they were all here. He went in no particular order.

''Winchester one and Winchester two!'' Sam and Dean both shouted 'here' at the same time. ''Stark!''

Rose mumbled a quiet 'present'.

''Ramsey one and Ramsey two!'' Dan looked around,

''Um, Ramsey one here, don't know about the two.''

The teacher looked at the list, ''Williams?'' Dan shook his head, the teacher made a face ''Figures.''

''Striker!'' He continued.

''Sir, present, sir.'' Alex said with a mock military greeting. They chuckled, Nick rolled his eyes. ''Novak!''

''Adsum.'' Cas said with a smirk.

''I'm going to take that as 'here'.'' He continued to read several names, there was still no sign of the segnora and segnor lovebird. Dean sighed, they were losing precious time. Finally when had all already put their luggage into the bus, the pair showed up.

 ''Williams and Ramsey number two! I'm not going to ask where you were because I honestly don't care, but I will say that you are to sit in the front of the bus at all time as punishment!'' The couple groaned. Soon after they were all seated in the bus and ready to start their journey.

Gabe and Sam were sitting too close to Professor Michael for Gabriel’s liking. He silently groaned-really, how lame is it to go on a school trip with your own uncle? Michael was a cool guy, but… Gabriel shivered. At least Sam was with him.

\------

At the back of the bus, Alex was successfully pretending not to notice Tessa and her best friend, who looked like her clone, sitting so close to Dean and Dan. She decided not to let that fact ruin her mood. They were going to London, after all.

Rose listened to Alex jitter about all the fun they’re going to have in London, but someone kept banging on her seat.

“Excuse me for a moment,” she said to Alex and turned around.

“Would you please stop hitting me?” she asked, but Charles only smiled.

“That never bothered you before,” he smiled innocently. She blushed, but couldn’t help but smile. She turned back to Alex.

Alex was grinning, she opened her mouth but Rose clamped a hand over it. ''Don't you dare make that noise!'' Rose whispered in a harsh tone. Alex widened her eyes and shook her head.

Rose removed her hand, ''What, I was just going to say...'' Rose shot her a threatening glare, that didn't stop her though ''.... Awww.''

Rose groaned, ''You can be so infuriating.''

''But you love me,'' Alex poked Rose's side with her finger. Rose squirmed and giggle, ''Stop, that tickles.''

 ''Well, aren't you two frisky.'' Charles commented.

\------

“Uncle Michael, can we watch a movie?” Gabe whined, “I’m bored.”

“No!” Sam suddenly looked up from his book, “I’m reading here! I need my concentration!”

“Oh hush,” Gabe snatched the _A Song Of Ice and Fire: A Storm of Swords_ from Sam’s hands, “Luckily for us, I brought a DVD.”

He gave the _Thor_ DVD to Professor Michael. By him, Professor Inja looked slightly interested and put in the disc.

“I don’t know why, but I always felt connected to Loki on some level,” Gabriel said, as he sank into his seat, ready to enjoy the movie.

 ------

Alex looked up to see which movie they were watching and then squealed. She tore Rose’s earphones out and shook her, “Look! Look! My babies!”

Rose joined her and they were soon fangirling and drooling over all the hot guys in this blessed movie.

“Look at how hot he is,” Alex whispered.

“Look at those acting skills,” Rose breathed.

“Look at his fabulous hair.”

“Just look at him.”

“Girls, please. You are making me jealous,” Charles said, only half-jokingly.

Alex stuck her tongue out at him.

Rose snickered, ''You have every right to be jelly, they're perfect! My Ship!'' She shouted as Sif and Loki appeared in the shot together. Alex made an 'aw' face and Rose whined. Dean was subtly checking out the actors as well.

Cas seemed confused, ''I don't understand, the story didn't progress this way in any of the books I read on Norse Mythology.''

Charles outright laughed at this. ''Man, have I got a lot to teach you!''

Alex snorted, ''Yes, you of all people.''

''Hey! Just because your vast knowledge of Star Wars and basically every Marvel comic book or movie is superior to mine doesn't mean I can't teach him anything.'' He defended.

''Woah, woah, woah!'' Dean interjected, ''If anyone is teaching anyone about Star Wars It's me!''

They bickered like that for a few minutes, Rose just watched the movie while Dan was sleeping. Tessa and her clone were taking pictures, selfies mostly, but some were of other people on the bus. Shocker. The quarrelling trio came to a compromise; they would all gather one afternoon and teach Cas everything. Castiel looked slightly uncomfortable with the situation and Rose gave him an apologetic smile.

Castiel didn’t like that they were talking about him like he was a property. He’s had enough of that in his life. He sighed; at least these guys had good intentions. He enjoyed his time with them. He’s had more fun in these past couple of weeks than ever. But he decided he wouldn’t be submissive anymore.

“Guys, I’m here, you know,” Cas reminded them, “Don’t I have a say in this?”

Realising their mistakes, they smiled sheepishly at him. Everyone except Dan, who was, as said sleeping and without a care in the world.

“Sorry, Cas,” Dean tried, “Of course you do. So, what do you think?”

Cas pretended to think for a few moments, “I’d like...”

Dean crossed his fingers, hoping Cas would choose him.

“...you all to teach me,” Cas broke into a smile and they all laughed.

“Deal!” Dean fist-bumped him.

They all took to filling him in on the universe in which the movie was happening, Alex and Rose occasionally fangirling about something called 'a ship'. Castiel asked what it was - Alex started to explain, and the sound of her voice brought Dan back from the dead. He moaned and stretched. The moment Tessa saw him wake up; she snapped a picture of him and posted it on Facebook.

Rose, who was on her Facebook app, saw it first. _“My baby just woke up <3<3<3 :* :*” _it read.She felt slightly disturbed, but giggled a bit. Alex immediately wanted to know what was she laughing about.

“Nothing,” Rose said, covering her phone.

“Come on,” Alex whined.

Charles peeked over Rose’s shoulder to see what the commotion is about. She showed him the screen and he groaned.

“Uh, Alex, I don’t think you should see this...”

“Screw you guys. Or better yet, screw each other,” Alex grabbed the phone and stopped  
midsentence.

 ------

Dan groaned, running his hand over his face. He looked at Tessa with one eye opened. She was giggling as she shoved her iPhone 5 in his face. ''Look at how adorable you look! Look you already have 25 likes!'' Her clone giggled too.

Dan went red, ''Tessa please remove that photo.''

She pursed her lips, ''Ummm, no.'' She giggled like a freaking 5 year old.

 ''Tess, I don't want you taking pictures of me. Please just remove it.'' He pleaded.

She huffed, ''Like, I don't see what the big deal is! We take pictures together all the time!'' Tessa whined.

''Yes, but we're in them together. Look taking solo pictures is not my thing, so please.'' He put on his best kicked puppy look.

She shook her head, ''No.''

He grunted angrily, ''Tessa...'' The rest of the group went quiet; everybody was watching what was happening.

''I said no, Dan.'' She glared at him.

He shook his head, ''Well if you can't respect my wishes, for once, I guess i have nothing to do in this relationship any more.'' As he finished his sentence the bus stopped.

 _God it had already been 2 and a half hours_ , Dean thought. He glanced over to Alex and Rose. Rose was covering Alex's mouth with her hand and keeping her back. Thank whatever angel sent that girl to prevent a murder.

Tessa stood up abruptly and stormed out of the bus, almost knocking over a few people. Dan sighed and dropped his head against the window; Dean patted his back in a comforting manner. ''I should probably apologies, '' he muttered.

Dean thought it over, ''You should do what feels right.'' He finally said, not wanting to take sides. Partially scared of Alex and partially afraid of Tessa. Dan sure did know how to pick 'em.

Going through his options, Dan sighed and slowly got out of the bus. He found Tessa in the bathroom, posting a new Facebook status.

\------

Dean found Gabriel and Sam in the shop by the gas station. Gabriel was buying some sweets, since he already ate everything he brought in the backpack.

“Yo, Sammy,” Dean said, pulling Cas in, “I don’t think you guys met?”

“No,” Sam smiled fondly, “But I heard a lot about you.”

Dean blushed as they shook their hands. He felt a little bit awkward so he chose to look through the shop’s window rather than Sam or Cas. He groaned.

There she was, attached to Dan’s hand, typing on the phone with lightning speed, like nothing happened-Tessa. 


	6. Chapter 6

10 minutes later, they were piling back into the bus.

“I just don't understand what's so great about Loki,”' Cas said with a blank expression. Dean and Alex groaned.

 “Dude, he's like the definition of awesome. He's got all this power, and rage and regret and he just goes through it,” Dean tried.

“Plus, the actor is hot,” Alex added.

“But, the books, they don't paint him as such!” Cas whined, God, this was confusing. “He was always trouble, did you know he gave birth to a horse?”

 Alex laughed, “Yes, Slepnir, but that's not the point. The books are lore and this is fiction, they portray everything different. Do you really think Thor was that angsty?”

 She scoffed as Dean made a pained noise, “He is _NOT_ angsty!” he defended, “He's just misunderstood and sad because his brother is sad.”

 “Well, I see who you ship then,” she winked as they climbed into the bus.

“Wh-“ Dean started but Rose cut him off with a groan.

“Alex, stop trying to make Thorki happen.”

Dean wanted to add something, but before he could he got an armful of Cas.

“Watch your faggot boyfriend, don't let him infect me,” Gordon tossed as he climbed in the bus. Dean absolutely did not growl.

 “Shut your mouth asshat before I shut it for you!” Charles called from his seat.

Gordon turned around, “You’re defending them?”

“Of course I am,” Charles rolled his eyes, rising from his seat, “They’re my friends. Not that you’d know how it is to have real friends anyway.”

Gordon was undoubtedly about to come up with an offensive, yet witty, remark-you could see his mouth moving up and down, although no sound came out-when the heated scene was suddenly cut off.

“Greetings,” Gordana said and bowed head a little. Gordon moved to let Gordana pass, Mela following close behind.

“Umm,” he said, then looked at Dean, “Whatever, faggot.” He went to join his group at the front of the bus.

Castiel was red in the face, fists clenched. He could imagine smoke coming out of his ears. Then Dean put a calming hand on his shoulder.

“It’s not worth it,” he said, “Gordon mocks everyone who I hang out with it. Like, seriously, all my friends are immediately labelled as faggots.”

Castiel nodded and the hand disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

He missed the warmth of Dean's hand immediately. God, those hands. He started at them for a while before shaking his head and moving to his seat. If there weren't any witnesses he would have served Gordon his ass on a plate with some salad on the side. Cas let out a frustrated sigh.

“Like Dean said, don't take it personally. We've all been through it, he's just not far enough up the evolution scale to get it,” Charles smiled.

 Cas nodded and pulled out his phone, One unread message, it read. He opened it.

“I hope you are taking care of yourself. -Father.”

His good mood evaporated just like that. Couldn’t he have just a few days of peace?

Dean recently found out that he could read every expression on Cas’s face and see every change of it. “What’s wrong?” he asked from behind. Next to Cas, Charles had headphones on and was bobbing his head, silently mouthing the lyrics.

Castiel sighed, “Nothing, really.”

“Come on,” Dean smiled encouragingly.

“But it’s really nothing,” leaning over Charles, Cas showed the text to Dean, who frowned.

“So what, your dad is checking up on you.”

“Yeah,” Cas laughed humourlessly, “You can exactly pinpoint the moment when he doesn’t really care.”

Dean desperately wanted to find out more about Cas’s family and life in Amsterdam. The life before Dean. But he was kind of afraid to ask more personal questions; Castiel was a silent guy and rarely spoke of his life outside school. Dean wanted Castiel to willingly open up to him. To invite Dean in his life.

To his surprise, Castiel continued, “We don’t talk a lot. When I come home, he’s rarely there. Always head deep in his paperwork, or flying around the globe. I only have a few happy memories. My earliest ones, when my mum was still alive. After she died,” Cas paused, inhaling, “She died in a car accident; nothing unnatural about it, it happens every day, but it ruined my dad. He turned into a real Dick after that.”

Dean widened his eyes, “How can you call your dad a dick? My dad would kill me if I said a swear word in front of him. He’s really strict, an ex-marine.”

Cas chuckled, “It’s his nickname, his name is Richard,” he explained, “And I make the best of the situation.”

Dean blinked slowly; then he chuckled, “Man, Cas, didn't know you had it in you.”

Can looked at him over the back of the seat, “There's a lot of things you don’t know about me, Dean.” Then he smirked and turned around.

 Dean was baffled; he blushed and looked through the window. They had reached the interstate.

Really, Cas was full of surprises today. Noticing his own reflection in the window, Dean realized he was smiling. When he looked back, Dan was smirking at him.

“Shuddup,” Dean muttered. Dan laughed and put his earphones in.

Minutes later Dean elbowed him, “Dude, turn down that screaming.”

“It's not screaming, it's Sleeping With Sirens, Dean,” a voce said from two seats up front.

Dan nodded in affirmation and Dean sighed, “Fine, Alex, whatever, they're still screaming.”

Suddenly, there was a scream (and not from Dan’s earphones).

“Ella, OMG, are you okay?” Tessa yelled, panic in her voice. Half of the bus turned to them. Professor Inja jumped out of her seat and started towards the pair. Ella, a.k.a. Tessa’s Clone, acquired a sickly green colour in her face.

“I think,” she said, taking a deep breath, “That I’m going to be sick.”

Dean, who was only a couple of seats away, saw it clearly (although he wished he hadn’t)-Ella turned into a fountain and a stream of puke flew from her mouth in a slow motion. Girls around her screamed in disgusted, but Tessa was dumbfounded and covered in Ella’s lunch.

She finally found her voice and let out a long, wounded scream, “Ella, how could you? These were my new jeans!”

Professor Inja arrived right at that moment and scanned the situation. She raised her eyebrows and pursed her lips together, “Tessa, please, can’t you see that your friend is unwell?”

Tears were gathering in Tessa’s eyes, “My jeans,” she whispered. She turned to the guys and met Dan’s eyes. “Help me,” she whined.

Looking at Dean, he mouthed, “Get me out of this.”

Dean manically shook his head, “You banging it, you cleaning it,” he whispered back, but not silent enough for Inja not to hear. She let out a loud sigh, subtly rolling her eyes, and turned her attention to the needy girl in front of her.

The bus was dead silent as Tessa stood up. Charles started laughing first, he was followed by Alex who had her head thrown back and Rose who was letting out choked sounds. The rest of the people soon joined, even Dan was chuckling subtly. Tessa was very, _very_ embarrassed. She let out a frustrated scream but that only made them laugh more. ''Oh man,'' Charles wheezed, ''I knew I'd have fun on this trip, but I never saw this coming.'' Cas shook his head, ''This is a very possible event, it was to be expected.'' At this Charles laughed even more.

Cas chuckled, ''But I have to admit, it was rather funny.''

They somehow managed to clean up most of the mess, although Tessa was still weeping silently. She hasn’t uttered a word to Ella, who was constantly apologizing.

The rest of the trip was uneventful. After about a day and a half of a tormenting bus ride, they reached the ship that was to take them over La Manche. They abandoned the bus and boarded the ship.

“Everyone’s looking at us,” Cas pointed out unhappily, as most of the kids ran on the deck.

Dean laughed, “So? Let them look. Just because they’re old stiff  hens, doesn’t mean we can’t have our fun.” With these words, he winked at him and for the first time _he_ was taking _Cas_ by surprise, not the other way around. Then he noticed that Cas looked generally disoriented.

“Cas, dude, you look like you’re expecting someone to launch themselves at you. Something wrong?” He asked, concerned.

Cas waved it off, “I’ll just go find a toilet,” he said.

Dean wanted to go after him, but Rose stopped him. “Maybe he just doesn’t like crowds. Let him be, Dean,” she said.

Dean slowly nodded. Students scattered across the deck, waiting for bus to board so the ship can finally take off. It took another fifteen minutes for it to happen. Professors tried to make the students calm down and sit.

Charles managed to stay still for exactly nine minutes. He scanned through his classmates, noticing Gordana and Mela sitting (as always) together. Some old woman besides them was clutching her small purse, occasionally glancing at the strange couple. Charles smiled to himself, and continued his search. He was looking for someone special. He finally noticed her, sitting next to Dan and Alex. It looked like Dan and Alex were silently bickering about something-probably Tessa-but Rose had a book in her hands. Charles noticed that she hasn’t turned a page in a while.

“I’ll be right back,” Charles said to Dean. “Or maybe not,” he added when he realized that Dean was paying about zero attention to him. Cas still hasn’t showed up on the deck.

He weaved his way around the benches and finally reached Alex, Dan and Rose. Like Dean, Alex and Dan were too absorbed in their own problems to care about anything else. Rose looked up, though.

“I have come to save you from the distress your companions are so carelessly causing,” he offered her a hand which she gladly took. He led her to the prow and she leaned over the rail.

“Don’t jump off,” he laughed and put his arms around her.

“I’m just watching the sea,” she replied, “Look at the view. It’s so beautiful.”

“Yes, indeed it is,” he said dreamily. He then suddenly lifted her arms and started singing,

_“And you’re here in myyyyy heaaart  
And my heart will go ooooooon”_

Immediately attracting everyone’s attention. Charles was never the subtle one. When he finished the song-which was soon, since he didn’t know half the lyrics-Rose was tomato-red, tears of laughter in her eyes and everyone started clapping.

Dean smiled to himself as he saw the scene that unfolded before him. It was cute, although he’d never admit it. He looked back to where the bathrooms were. Still no sign of Cas. A few minutes later the latter did show up, but he was looking as tense as ever. And that was saying something, considering it was Castiel.

“Cas, buddy, you okay?” he asked once Cas sat down next to him.

“Yes, I'm fine.” He replied coldly.

“Are you sure? You seem a little tense,” Dean said with a quirked brow.

Castiel sighed, “Just a little tired. Sleeping in the bus isn't really good.”

Dean nodded, “I guess you're right.” He took in the sight of the open sea before him. He leaned back into his seat and sighed, “The sea always calms me down, though.”

“It's quite fascinating. It will never fail to amaze me. I discover something new every time I lay my eyes at it,” Cas agreed, barely audible. Dean opened his eyes to see Castiel staring at him, somewhat distracted. Like he was trying to count Dean's freckles.

“Yeah, it is,” Dean said quietly. They were close, too close.

“Cas, you're back!” Dan interrupted and Dean sighed as Cas retreated back to look at the sea. “Obviously,” Dean muttered under his breath. Dan looked at him and squinted, his mouth took an 'o' shape. He mouthed an apology before he turned to Cas.

“I couldn’t stay with Alex anymore,” Dan babbled, “She kept teasing me about Tessa, but then it got somewhat cruel. The worst thing, I had to defend Tessa.”

“I am no expert on the field of romantic relationships, but why do you not just break up with Tessa?” Castiel asked.

Dan shrugged, “Because I’m stupid and I’m trying to make Alex jealous.” He slumped into the seat next to Cas.

“I don’t know, man, everything is so fucked up,” Dean said, and the three boys sighed in union.

\------

Meanwhile, Rose and Charles were nowhere to be found. 


	7. Chapter 7

Since it was a little chilly, Rose and Charles had decided to go below deck. The wind started to pick up and you could hear it even inside. Charles was never the one to stand still, so he made Rose walk with him.

“Charles,” she whined, “Can we please sit somewhere, the boat is rocking and I'm getting dizzy.”

“Oh come on, it's not that bad!” He smiled at her frown.

“Can we at least go topside then?” She pleaded.

Charles smirked, “Sure, you can be top.”

“Let’s just go back to the deck, you perv.”

Charles chuckled, “Finee.”

She started up the stairs when the boat hit a big wave. Charles found himself on his ass with Rose in his lap.

“Um-“ she started “-I hope that's your phone.”

Charles laughed, “Why as a matter of fact..”

 Rose rushed to get up, “Ew Charles, don't even joke about that.” She was as red as a cherry.

“Hey, don't knock it till you try it!” He winked at her and migrated upstairs. She let out a frustrated sound and followed him.

\------

Alex saw the couple emerge from the ship’s insides. She was happy for Rose, but couldn’t help but to feel a pang of jealousy. Dan was acting even dumber than usual. And Alex didn’t know if he was actually happy with Tessa or was it all just an act.

She sighed. She’s been sighing a lot lately. Why was Dan such a jerk? Why didn’t he like her?

Was it her looks? It wouldn’t be the first time. Guys have been intimidated by her style before. Her shaved head wasn’t exactly a text book example of _“girly”_. And unfortunately, it seems like most of the guys were after that. Just look at Tessa.

Alex saw that Rose was approaching her, so she decided not to dwell on Dan’s girlfriend-she wanted to avoid being depressed.

“Hey,” Rose smiled and sat down.

“Hi. So,” Alex said after a few moments, “You and Charlie went down with each other? In the ship, I mean,” Alex smiled innocently.

Rose glared at her, “Yes, we had a nice walk and nothing else.”

“Oh cheer up,” Alex laughed, “We’ve almost reached the shores of United Kingdom.”

\------

Charles had a goofy smile on his face as he was closing the distance between himself and his guy friends.

Dan pretended to check his watch, which he wasn’t even wearing, “Well that was fast,” he said.

Passing by him, Charles smacked him on the head. “Nothing happened between us,” he said with a slight frown.

“Well excuse you,” Dan said, rubbing the back of his head, “’was just joking around, no need to get defensive. Besides,” he continued, as Charles lowered himself in the seat next to Dean, “We know you’d never disgrace her in such a way, harming her honour and reputation.”

Charles rolled his eyes at him.

\------

They made port in the next 30 minutes. Coach Nick made them swear they'd behave; otherwise they would have to hold hands with their partner. They walked in pairs until they reached the bus. Alex saw Tessa dragging her giant Louis Vuitton suitcase and smirked. Dan was just walking next to her paying zero attention. That made her feel a little better, slinging her duffel bag over her shoulder she picked up her small green suitcase shefollowed rose.

Once they were finally seated again, Professor Michael started walking through the bus.

“We have assigned houses in London-each house will host two of you. I hope you had already decided who will be living with whom,” he said, and students looked at each other, seeking confirmation. Tessa tried to catch Dan’s eye but he kept his gaze on Professor Michael. Noticing this, Michael said, “I don’t have to remind you that only people of same gender are allowed in one house.”

“But,” Tessa whined, “Who am I going to stay with, then?”

“Well,” Professor cleared his throat, uncomfortable.

“Didn’t we agree to stay together?” Ella asked, wide eyed.

Tessa laughed bitterly, “Umm, that was before you upchucked all over me.”

From behind Tessa, another girl, Carly popped up, “Ella, you can stay with me then.”

Ella gratefully accepted, avoiding the awkward situation in which Tessa found herself.

“Very well then, is there anyone else who doesn’t have a partner yet?” Professor asked, looking around the bus.

Two hands were raised.

“Hayley, you will be staying with Tessa then.”

Hayley, who was sitting next to her boyfriend Matt, looked like she was going to cry.

“And Gordana,” Professor was confused for a moment before deciding, “You can stay with the Professors. Sam and Gabriel will be joining us, too.”

Gordana looked indifferent.

“Excellent,” Professor Michael proceeded, “We will reach the first street with the houses in a few minutes. Until then, enjoy the view.” He gave a curt nod.

As promised, they arrived about 5 minutes later. When they exited the bus their hosts were there to greet them. Tessa huffed and looked for the family that was going to take her and Hayley. When she found them Hayley was already there and smiling. They arrived to the house, it was nice and medium sized. They were led through it and when they were finally given the chance to settle Hayley spoke. "Just so you know, I'm going to make your life a living hell.'' She smiled, ''Team Dalex, wench.'' Then she left, Tessa gulped and shook her head.

\------

Dean and Dan were hosted by some young couple, Bela Talbot and Balthazar. Yes, just Balthazar he said they didn't need last names. Dean shrugged it off as a British thing. He couldn’t wait to throw his stuff in the room, which he was sharing with Dan, and go out, exploring the bold new world.

However, as soon as he sat down on his bed (they had a bunk bed, and Dean chose the bottom one) and closed his eyes for a moment, he fell asleep.

\------

Charles and Castiel were assigned a family house. Castiel already saw that he wasn’t going to like it here. The parents-Crowley and Naomi-were nice enough, although he was getting a strange vibe from the wife-the problem was their daughter. Meg, if he remembered her name correctly. The moment she saw her house-guests, she squealed, grabbed Cas’ hand and dragged him upstairs to show him the room they’ll be staying in. The Masters were obviously a wealthy family-the room was pretty big. Everything would have been perfect if it wasn’t for Meg, who invited herself in and sat on one of the beds.

''So, how old are you Meg?'' Charles asked as he observed the girl.

''Um, 16'' she said, not looking at Charles but observing Castiel. ''That's cool,'' Charles said awkwardly.

Castiel turned to look at her, ''Listen, Meg, if it's not a problem we'd like to get some rest. It's been a long journey." He motioned with his hands helplessly.

She nodded, ''Yeah, sure." Meg stood up and went for the door. But before she left she dragged her hand across his forearm and smiled suggestively. "See you guys tomorrow,'' She waved to Charles and winked at Cas.

When she left Charles chuckled and Castiel groaned. Just what he needed, he thought to himself.

\------

Rose and Alex got stuck with a guff looking old man and a woman that looked like she could kill with a fork. The Singers, Bobby and Ellen, lived in a house further from the rest but it was a nice house. It had a large back yard and the girls' room was large- well furnished too. They had a daughter Jo, about 13 years. The first thing she asked when they walked in was ''Would you like to see my knife collection?'' Of course Rose refused while Alex said yes.

That's why Rose was currently alone in the room, reading the same paragraph of her book for the tenth time. Suddenly, 'Fur Elise' could be heard. She groaned and dug through her bag for her phone.

_'What do you call a ghost that haunts the locker room of the football team? Team spirit. *ba dum dss*- Charles'_ She laughed.


	8. Chapter gr8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We tend to put as much referencing and bad puns into this thing as we can.  
> sorry  
> not sorry at all

 Tessa woke up to a rustling sound. She opened her eyes and saw Hayley leaning over her with a smirk.

“’Morning,” Hayley said.

 “Um, morning?” Tessa replied, warily.

“Breakfast is ready,” Hayley said and grinned, “I’d be careful if I were you.” She skipped out of the room, her orange hair bouncing. Tessa looked around the room and gulped- _shit_. She got up to brush her teeth, eyeing the toothpaste. She took a hesitant lick; seemed normal enough. _So far so good_. She knew she'd have to watch herself around Hayley. Dan's cousin was the vengeful one in his family. She rinsed her mouth out and went to put the toothbrush away. When she couldn't, she sighed. _Great_.

“Little advice from a friend, super-glue,” Hayley said from the doorway. Tessa released a frustrated sound and searched for something to remove the glue with.

\------

Alex groaned as Jo bounced on her bed, ''Come on, come on. Breakfast is ready!" She chirped.

"Kid, how can you be this happy in the morning.'' Alex huffed out.

''Come on, Rose is already up!'' Jo smiled and motioned to Rose's empty bed.

"Why am I not surprised," Alex murmured.

\------

“Come on, sleepy-head!” Rose greeted once Alex finally decided to show up downstairs.

“Good morning,” Ellen smiled, “Bobby left to work, you missed him by a few minutes.”

Alex returned the good morning and sat down next to Rose. Ellen put a plate in front of her and she gulped.

“Is something wrong?” Ellen asked, concerned.

Alex mumbled something and said, “Everything is fine.”

Swallowing a mouthful of bacon, Rose said, “I forgot to tell you, Mrs. Singer, Alex is a vegetarian.”

Alex glared at her but confirmed her words.

“I didn’t know,” Ellen apologized, “Your professors should’ve told me.” She frowned, “Don’t worry, though, you won’t be hungry in my house,” she patted her back and soon came back with a sandwich.

“Here, completely meat-free,” Ellen said and marched back to kitchen, before Alex could thank her, and screamed _“Jo, get down here, you’ll be later for archery.”_

“Come on, Alex, hurry up. We are on a schedule; we need to meet with others.”

Alex groaned, “I just got up, woman, let me wake up first.” After a pause, in which she took a bite of her sandwich and concluded it was excellent, she continued, “Where are we meeting with them anyway?”

Rose had her answer ready, “In front of _Caupona_ pub, Jo will show us where it is.”

\------

Castiel groaned as he got up-his back was a little sore from the bus ride yesterday. He needed a shower. He saw Charles was still lightly snoring; he got up and made a bee line for the bathroom. He got undressed and got in the shower. The hot water ran over his body, soothing the ache in his back. When he deemed that enough time had been spent on the shower he got out and towelled himself off. He looked around the bathroom- _where in the seven hells were his clothes_?

_Shit. Meg_ , he thought. Castiel looked around just to be sure; he spotted a clean pair of his boxer briefs where he left them. Thankfully, she left those behind. He pulled them on and peeked through the door. Meg was leaned against the banister of the stairs, smirking. “Lose something?”

“Meg,” he said with a warning tone. She giggled and ran downstairs.

Castiel sighed. Why were females so strange? Okay, he got that Meg has the hots for him, but she didn’t have to act in such a childish manner to let him know. Any yet, despite refusing to be just a piece in her game, he ran after her.

He caught sight of her chestnut brown hair disappearing through the door. He busted in after her and stopped dead in tracks. Crowley dropped his newspaper on the table and frowned at him, while Naomi dropped her jaw. Meg was hiding behind her and covering her mouth, trying to suppress the laughter.

“I, umm, good morning, Mr. and Mrs. Masters,” Cas managed and glared daggers at Meg.

“Aren’t you a little cold, young man?” Crowley raised an eyebrow at him, while Naomi was opening and closing her mouth, trying to shape words. Knowing his darling wife and her temper, Crowley turned to Castiel and mouthed _‘run.’_

“I’ll just go to our room now and wake Charles up,” Castiel said as he was slowly taking steps backwards. Meg threw his clothes at him and he ran back to safety.

Even upstairs, the screeching sound of Naomi’s voice could be heard. It was like it was right in his head and he couldn’t escape it.

_In your own house, Meg! Have I taught you nothing? It is only their first day here and you’re already causing so much chaos! And then that boy! Running around my house in nothing but a pair of undergarments?_

Castiel entered their room, clutching his clothes close to his chest. He leaned against the door and huffed out a relieved sigh. Charles was sitting on the bed with a quirked brow.

“Cas man, not that I don't appreciate the view, but what the hell?”

 Cas grumbled, “Meg.”

“Ah, then all is forgiven,” Charles laughed and ran a hand through his hair. “Dude you gotta let her know you're off limits,” he said, trying to be helpful.

“But that'd be lying” Cas said innocently.

“Well do you want her to repeat whatever she did this morning?”

Charles did make a good point. Cas nodded and went to put some clothes on. He looked through the window. _Great_ , he thought, _it's raining_. He sighed and pulled out his phone to play some Fruit Ninja before they have to go down for breakfast.

\------

An hour later, they have all gathered at the appointed place. Only a few students, including Tessa who looked extremely unhappy, had their umbrellas. Most of the kids pulled on hoods.

“Hey, Tessa,” Gordon called, “What’s wrong with your hand?” He asked, looking at her red, scrubbed raw palm.

“Too much fraction, eh? Been busy last night?” Gordon nudged one of his pals with his elbow, the whole group chuckled.

Tessa refused to grace them with an answer.

“Alright, class,” Professor Michael once again took the main word, “Since the weather is not at its brightest, we’ll visit a museum today and leave the Big Ben for tomorrow.”

There were a few groans but most people were just excited to be in London in the first place.

“Get in line and we can start.”

They swiftly organized themselves into little groups.

Hayley was subtly smirking until Dan elbowed her, “Hayley, what did you do to her?” He whined.

“What, it was just a little super glue,” Hayley grinned and playfully shoved Dan.

“Yeah, I admit it’s funny,” he chuckled, “But now she’s going to whine to me about it.” He huffed and she patted him on the head although he was taller than her. Then again, everyone was taller than her.

“It’s okay, cous’, if she gives you a hard time, you tell me and I’ll take care of it,” she smiled as the line started to move.

\------

“Alex, Alex!” Dean chirped.

Alex’s head snapped around, “What is it? Who died?” She smiled at his eye roll.

“Did you see what happened to Tessa?” Dean smiled.

“Oh yeah, I'm glad that Hayley is on my side. She is a sneaky devil.” Alex grinned as they walked.

Up front Gabriel was jumping and singing Umbrella by Rihanna. Sam sighed and face palmed.

"Gabriel please don't!" He whined, but that didn't help.

 "UNDER MY UMBRELLA ELLA ELLA E E E E" Gabriel was jumping and people laughed.

“Class, please, keep it down!” Professor Inja finally turned around, “You are here as representatives of our respected school and we expect you to behave like adults!”

From the back, people were still walking, but the front of the line was blocked while Professors investigated who was the source of all the noise.

David and Goliath were situated around the middle when it happened. Someone pushed Goliath from behind and he tried to steady himself by leaning onto his better half. Since Goliath wasn’t really the thin one and the ground was slippery, David lost his balance and was suddenly falling, falling onto the cold hard road, right in front of the incoming black taxi.

 


	9. Chapter nein

United screeching sounds of Goliath and tires on the wet road startled everyone. Then the car doors opened and another scream was heard as someone ran through the crowd.

Dean turned away from Alex to see what all the commotion was about. He saw Professors rushing towards two figures huddled together in front of a taxi. By instinct, his eyes flew over the crowd. He didn’t know what he was looking for until he found it-Cas was standing between Charles and Dan, at the safe distance from the accident. Dean let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

“Let’s go,” Alex pulled him towards the rest of their little group. Dean had to elbow a few people for them to move-everyone was trying to see what was happening. Dean caught a sight of Goliath, Professors Michael and Nick and two strangers crouched around someone, while Professor Inja was standing by them with her arms crossed, biting her lip.

They finally reached Dan, Charles and Cas, when Goliath’s wailing reached them.

“Hey,” Dean said, “What happened here?”

Charles frowned. “Where is Rose?” he said instead of an answer.

They all turned to look for her, but Alex was the first one to spot her. Rose was half-hiding behind the taxi, her eyes focused not on the boy who was finally regaining his strength, but on those two men who emerged from the taxi. Alex saw that one was blonde and the other’s hair was raven. She quirked an eyebrow at Rose, who only manically shook her head and motioned for her to come over.

Rose felt like fainting. The blond man finally stood up and clapped his hands.

“It is settled, then,” he concluded and smiled. Rose clutched her phone even harder.

“Good thing that this guy does magic with his hands,” the blonde continued.

“Chris, please,” the black-haired man said, helping David to his feet. “It was nothing but a first-aid course,” he continued. His voice was deep and smooth. David looked confused-one does not get saved by two strikingly beautiful men every day. His knees felt week.

“Whoa, there,” the man who was supporting him said, “Will you manage. Do you want to kneel?”

David shook his head, breathing heavily.

“Still,” the blonde, Chris, patted the other on the back. “You just saved the day. You’re not the bad guy this time, Tom.”

A smile spread on Tom’s face and Rose grabbed the taxi door for support.

“CanItakeapicturewithyou?” she managed to squeak out. Chris squinted a bit, trying to comprehend what she just said, but Tom gave her a heart-warming smile and pulled her between him and his friend. They even signed her napkin. This was a best day ever.

\------

Alex had had enough. Rose was taking pictures with strangers. Alex decided to go see what the hell was going on. When her gaze finally fell upon the god-like features of Chris and Tom, she screamed, coughed and almost choked.

“Oh my Gods,” she squeaked out. “I thought you were crazy!” she screeched at Rose. She pulled out her glasses to get a better look. She gasped and shoved Rose, who protested loudly, away.

“Move, my turn!” she clung on to Tom and smiled brightly.

“I feel abandoned,” Chris whined, jokingly.

“Don’t worry, I’m here!” Rose jumped in.

Fifteen minutes later they had to remove the two teenage girls away from the actors by force.

They were still shaking aggressively when they joined the group.

“David has been transferred to the local hospital,” Professor Michael was telling them. There were some hushed whispers before he spoke again, “He will be fine, he has a minor fracture on his right hand. Also, Goliath is with him. As is Professor Inja,” he sounded disappointed; Dean and Dan chuckled. It was a known fact that those 2 had an on-going, off-going relationship.

“We will continue our trip to the museum,” Nick shouted, “Now move!”

“By the way,” Dean asked out of curiosity, “Why were you taking pictures with random hot men?”

“Random?!” Rose gasped.

“Dean, we watched the movie Thor less than 48 hours ago. These two “hot men” as you put it,” Dean blushed at Cas’ words, “Are the main stars of the movie.”

“ _Oh_.”

\------

The walk was longer than expected.

Somewhere in the middle of the line Charles, Hayley, Dean and Cas were dying of boredom.

“I’m booored,” Hayley whined.

Dean sighed, “I thought this walk would take less time.” They waddled down the road in a slow pace.

“Let’s do something fun,” Charles suggested.

“Yes, oh so helpful, Charles,” Hayley said with all the sarcasm she could muster.

Cas huffed, “I thought this trip was going to be fun. So far, I’ve witnessed a car-crash, got molested by a hyperactive teenage girl and walked a lot.”

Dean choked on air, “Who molested you?!” He blushed as soon as he realized how possessive he sounded.

Cas chuckled, “The daughter of the family Charles and I are staying with. She seems to be attracted to me.”

Hayley hummed, “Is she hot?”  

They all looked at her.

“What, no homo, I’m just curious.”

Cas cleared his throat, “Well, she isn’t ugly-” Dean felt something inside him poke around his heart, “-but she isn’t my type,” Cas finished and Dean’s heart continued to beat regularly.

Hayley nodded and pulled out a tube of glue from her pocket, not noticing the shift in Dean’s posture. She tossed the tube from hand to hand.

“Do you always have superglue with you?” Charles asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes, of course,” she answered, scanning the crowd.

"What are you going to do with it?" Dean asked with a mischievous smirk.

"Oh, I know just the thing," Hayley answered as she eyed Dan and Alex in the distance.

\------

Castiel was never the one for practical jokes, but he had to admit he loved every second of this one. He watched as Hayley pushed past a few pupils and made her way over to Alex. She started a pointless conversation about who was the best Doctor. Apparently they agreed which made Rose disagree and start rambling about how 'under appreciated the 9th Doctor is'. Cas chuckled but he was shushed by Dean. Hayley took the chance when Alex was comforting Rose about the 10th Doctor and Rose feels. She pulled out the tube of glue and made an incision with her pocket knife. The glue started pouring out; she made quick work and grabbed Alex's hand.

"Hold this, will you?" She smiled at Alex's baffled expression. She then proceeded to run off in an unknown direction.

"What the hell?!" Alex shouted.

Rose laughed, "I don't know, apparently it's super glue."

 "I can see that, but why is it flowing all over my hand?! And don't say because the tube is cut in half because I see that!" Alex growled.

Dan felt a tug on his sleeve; he turned around to see Hayley's distressed face.

 "What's up 'cous?" he asked.

 "Dan, something's not right with Matt, come on, you need to help me." Hayley pouted.

Dan frowned, "I guess, come on lead the way."

She took his hand and pulled him after her. She dragged him over to where Matt was. Conveniently he was next to Alex and Rose.

"Hayley, Matt looks fine, what's going on?" Dan asked with a glare.

"Yeah about that," She was still holding his hand. She lifted it up and dropped it into Alex's. They looked at each other for a brief second before realising what had happened.

 "HAYLEY" they both shouted in sync.

Rose's jaw dropped, "Ooh no." She groaned.

Hayley took Matt's hand in her own and with a serious expression said, "run."

And ran they did.

Alex was fuming, Tessa was screeching about how Dan is HER boyfriend. Rose was laughing like a lunatic. Charles was nowhere to be seen, Cas was giggling while Dean made kissy faces at the couple stuck together.

  _It is going to be an interesting day_ , Professor Michael thought. "Okay, if we can continue this trip without anyone else getting injured, that'd be great. Everybody _stick_ to their partner," he looked at Dan and Alex, "Sorry, that was not not on purpose."

 The couple groaned.

"How dares she? I am going to kill her!" Tessa could be heard saying.

"You sure you want to do that?" Charles popped out of nowhere. "I mean after what she did to you," he motioned to Tessa's hand.

Tessa frowned-guess Charles had a point. She glared at Alex, but didn't say anything else.

Hayley finally showed up when they were at the museum. "Heya guys, you look like you've gotten yourself into a _sticky_ situation." she giggled.

 Dan rolled his eyes, "Your glue pranks are getting old, Hayley."

Hayley shrugged, "Nah, I'll just _stick_ to them."

This made Rose do a spit take.

"Awn you guys look sooo cute together!" A student, Natalie, said as she passed by them.

Alex glared at her, "Hey we're not a thing, we're just-" She looked at their hands "- _stuck_ together." She sighed.

Professors gave up and let the students wander around. Rose stuck with the museum curator, and Charles was forced to join her.

“Let’s leave these two love-birds alone,” Dean said, while Dan maniacally shook his head at him.

Cas nodded, his face sincere. He honestly thought that Dan and Alex needed some time alone to figure out the solution to their problems. Besides, there was something he needed to show Dean.

“I agree. Let us go,” he said and dragged, gracefully, Dean with him. They made a few turns and Castiel finally stopped in front of a beautifully ornamented vase.

Dean squinted, “Portland vase?”

“It is one of my favourite exhibits here,” Castiel nodded, as if recalling some foggy memory.

“You were here before?”

“When I was younger, my father used to take me with him on business trips, since I was too young to take care of myself. After several trips, he hired a nanny,” Castiel trailed off.

Dean cleared his throat, “So, why do you like this vase so much? It’s just some naked dudes and chicks.”

“They think it was a wedding present-the motives are of love and affection. Also, fun fact,” Castiel turned to Dean, “This vase was smashed by a drunk in 1845.”

“Really?” Dean leaned in to inspect the vase more closely, careful not to touch the glass. He was suddenly very conscious of his movements. He gulped-the presence of Castiel and the ancient Roman vase was making him kind of nervous. Why was Castiel showing him this?

“But the restorers did an extraordinary job. You can’t even see the cracks.”

“I see,” Dean said, not really seeing it.

“You know how they say that trust is like glass-once it’s broken, it can be fixed, but never fully healed?”

Dean was beginning to realize where this was going. “Yes,” he breathed, smudging the glass.

“I strongly disagree. I think, Dean,” Castiel said, making Dean finally look back at him, “That one only has to find the right person who will do the healing.

\------

Meanwhile, Dan and Alex were walking aimlessly. Neither of them was really interested in history.

“Oh, look,” Dan said, attempting a conversation, “A giant head!” Alex followed his finger towards an Easter Island statue.

“Fascinating,” she said.

Dan sighed. Fine, if she doesn’t want to talk to him, she doesn’t have to.

“Hey, Alex?”

“What is it now? Another giant head?”

“Well….”

“What?”

“I hafta pee.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woops, had a lot of things to do this weekend.  
> Sorry for the late update :)

"Well, shit." Alex muttered, blushing deeply.

"No, actually, pee." Dan smiled sheepishly.

They entered the bathroom with strange looks being thrown at them. Alex glared in general direction while Dan kept his head down.

"How do you want to do this?" Alex asked, regretting her choice of words as soon as she saw Dan's expression. "Not A word Dan, or I swear you'll have to pee your pants!" She threatened.

Dan nodded with a shy smile. They stood outside the bathroom stall, both of them contemplating how to do this.

"Should I like," Dan motioned with his hands, "Sit?"

"I don't know, I'm not the expert here. You've had that thing for a while, you figure it out." Alex said with a blush. God, she was actually having this conversation. She was going to kill Hayley if she makes it out of here alive.

"Hey, it's not a thin-" Dan started but was cut off by a light slap on the cheek.

"Not of import!" Alex barked. "Just go sit and do your business, I'm gonna pretend I'm not here." She turned away extending her hand as much as possible. Dan didn't move. "Well?" Alex asked.

"I can’t sit, it's gonna put you right above me." He blushed furiously.

 "Then can't you do it with your left hand?" She asked.

 "I can try," He shook his head. He was going to murder Hayley.

Five excruciating minutes later they were exiting the bathroom, the deep blush imprinted on their faces. Dan huffed a laugh, "Glad that's over."

"Yes, let's hope you don't have to tinkle again anytime soon." She smiled a little.

And then came Tessa, shoes clacking on the floor. She was accompanied by two of her girl friends (clones). She stopped dead in tracks when she saw Dan and Alex exiting the bathroom together. Holding hands. Dan’s zipper was down. She dropped her purse loudly.

Dan might not be the best looking, smartest and most romantic guy she ever met but he was still her boyfriend. And Alex was touching her property.

Dan turned around and saw Tessa. His breath caught in his throat. Not because of her beauty or anything-her face was disfigured from anger. Even her friends retreated a few steps.

“RUN!” Dan shouted and pulled Alex by the hand. She glanced back and ran as if all demons from hell were chasing her. 

They climbed a staircase and both were soon breathing heavily.

“Did we lose her?” Alex asked, leaning against the wall.

A scream pierced from above them.

“Nope,” Dan said and inhaled deeply. They ran around a corner and crashed into someone.

“Dan?!” Dean exclaimed, slipping. His hands automatically went flying around in search of a steady object to hold on. He felt cold glass beneath his fingers and in the next moment, his head painfully hit the said glass.

They were all on the floor. Alex was lying atop of Dan, while Dean held his head, trying to stop the throbbing. Cas was kneeling besides him.

“Are you alright? Dean, Dean, do you hear me?”

Dean moaned, “I’m fine. Did I break anything?”

“No, you hit your head, there’s probably going to be a bruise, no fractures.”

Dean looked at him with glossy eyes, “I meant the vase.”

“Oh,” Cas blushed. Has quickly inspected the exhibit and found only a small crack on the glass case. He sighed in relief.

"Just a small crack," He said. One of the guards started shouting at them. "We should probably get going," Dean said as Cas helped him get up.

"Dunno man, I'm kinda comfortable." Dan chuckled looking down at Alex. She punched him playfully.

"Dan you JERK!" The momentarily forgotten Tessa shouted from besides them.

"Tessa calm down!" Dan shouted, "Let's get out of here before we get thrown out and then I'll explain!" He whined helplessly.

They all moved to the floor below. Hayley was standing next to a skeleton of some sort, explaining something to Matt.

"HAYLEY JENNIFER RAMSEY!" Dan shouted, "Get here right this instant!"

 He knew he sounded like his mother but right now he didn't care.

"No can do, cous'" She pulled Matt with her, singing _'Can't keep my hands off of you' by Simple Plan._

 "I got a song for you and it goes a little like this _:_  
'Cause on the street, or under the covers We're stuck like two pieces of Velcro   
At the park, in the back of my car It don’t matter what I do,   
No, I can’t keep my hands off you."   
She gracefully made her way out of the room.

Dan groaned- _shit_.

Tessa was still glaring at them, "Well I'm waiting for my explanation, Dan." She put a hand on her hip and tapped her foot on the floor.

"Well, I had to pee." He stated simply.

"And that makes it better? She helped you pee?!" Tessa shouted.

 "I did no such thing!" Alex interjected, "I don't know what you think of me but I don't participate in those kinds of activities."

Dean coughed, "Unlike some people," He coughed again. Tessa’s face turned beat red and she stomped off.

Suddenly, Rose emerged from around the corner, Charles at her feet, “What have you done?” she asked, fear (and slight disgust?) in her eyes.

“What do you mean?” Dean asked.

Rose took in the scene in front of her. “Your fly, Dan,” she pointed.

Alex did a great job at pretending not to be alive, or rather, that Dan is not alive, while he was zipping his pants.

“I swear to God, we didn’t do anything,” she said, looking at Rose.

“Wh…Oh that, I don’t mean that, you’ll tell me everything later, but the museum guard came to the Professors and said someone almost broke the glass case?”

“Yeah, well, I fell and the Portland vase suddenly appeared and well…” Dean mumbled.

“Portland vase? Again? Really? How many times does that poor old thing have to be broken?”

Dean huffed, “Why does everyone know everything about that stupid vase?”

“I do my research,” Rose answered, satisfied.

“I thought you liked the vase,” Cas said quietly, looking like a kicked puppy.

“Cas, man, I didn’t mean it like that.”

Gordana appeared and acknowledged them with a “Greetings.” After Gordana followed Professors Nick and Michael with Sam and Gabriel behind.

Professor Nick pointed at them, “The six of you, follow us.”

They couldn’t do anything but to oblige, although Charles and Rose protested loudly, “We didn’t do anything!”

“We were with you all the time, for God’s sake!”

Professor Nick turned to Charles. “Don’t you bring God into this,” he threatened. That shut Charles up.

They arrived in front of the cracked glass case and a frowning guard.

“I swear, it was an accident,” Dean blurted out.

“Say cheese,” Sam said and a clicking sound was heard. “This is going to make the headline. I already see it. _At the scene of the crime.”_


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Horrible puns warning.  
> You have been warned.

Dean groaned. His mum was going to kick his ass when he gets back home.

The guard was fuming, “You disrespectful little... _teenagers_ ,” he said, in the lack of more insulting word. “How dare you come in here with your bad accents and sticky little fingers, thinking you can run all around the establishment!”

His thick accent made it difficult for students to understand him. They were giggling subtly at him. He was on a rant about the importance of peace and quiet, but in his rage, he was also spitting all over the place. Castiel subtly wiped a few drops of spit off his cheek. Even Professor Michael had had enough.

“Okay, kids, you’ve learnt your lesson. Let’s go!” he pushed them out of the room.

“Thank you, Professor Michael!” they all echoed.

He rolled his eyes, “Let’s make sure you don’t do it again. Try not to get killed for the rest of the day,” he pleaded, but by the time he was finished, Alex had already dragged Dan off.

\------

Alex was thinking of all the ways she was going to kill Hayley. She smirked evilly-she was going to smite that soulless ginger.

“Just don’t hurt her too badly,” Dan commented when Hayley came into their view.

“Don’t worry; she’s not going to die. Yet,” Alex muttered.

Dean gulped, “Well, I’m kind of having fun?” He said shyly, in a questioning tone.

Alex’s head snapped around, her hand tightening around Dan’s instinctively.

Suddenly, a head popped up between them.

Alex jumped, “Jesus Christ, you scared me!”

“But it’s not Jesus, it’s me, Matt!” Matt knitted his eyebrows. He was taller than most of the people in the class so he towered over Dan and Alex, too.

“Have you seen Hayley?” he asked with a frown.

“Wait, wasn’t she here, like, a moment ago?” Dan asked as he looked around. “Oh shit,” he groaned.

“Nobody move a muscle!” Alex whispered harshly.

“Heya!” All of them jumped.

“Holy shit, Hayley, don’t do that,” Dan wheezed.

“But creeping people is what I do best. That, and well, bringing people together,” she smiled proudly and lifted their glued hands. They both blushed at that.

“Don’t think you’re off the hook for that one,” Alex pointed a finger at her. Hayley just shrugged and waltzed away. Matt sighed and followed his quirky girlfriend.

“Shit,” Dan muttered, “Where did my earphones go?” He patted his pockets in search for them.

“Must have left them back at the house,” Alex mused over as she pulled out her own. The little pocket elves did their magic and the wires have tangled themselves yet again. She fumbled with them for a few seconds but untangling the self-willed earphones was a problem even with both hands.

And then she felt a hand join. Dan seemed to be an expert in this field and knew exactly where to pull and where to push. With Dan’s helping hand, they were soon finished and Alex sighed in relief. “Thank you,” she said and started putting them in when she saw Dan’s pout.

“What?” she asked.

“Can we share?” he batted his eyelashes.

Really, how was Alex supposed to say no to that? Sighing, she extended one earphone to him.

“Sharing is caring, you know,” Dan commented.

“Shut up.

\------

Dean was chilling with Cas. They were just commenting on some exhibits, when a scrawny boy, about their age, maybe a year older, approached them.

He smiled politely, “Oliver’s the name, pleasure to meet you!” He offered a hand that Dean reluctantly accepted. He eyed Oliver suspiciously.

“Uh, hi. I’m Dean and this is Castiel.”

“Castiel, you say?” the guy mused over.

“Yeah, why?” Castiel raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, nothing. Just a strange name, ‘tis all.”

There was a brief moment of silence before the guy spoke up again, “Say, mates, how would you like to have some fun?”

There was nothing in that sentence that didn’t disturb Dean. He could hear his mother scream at him and Sam looking at him judgingly. But he went with it because he was bored.

Turns out, Dean was wrong about the guy. An hour later they had finished their personalised tour through the museum. Oliver threw snappy or sassy remarks about the exhibits of his homeland. Every sentence that left the guy’s mouth was hilarious. Dean almost peed himself.

“Oh God, I have to tell you, man, this was one hell of a tour.”

Cas nodded, “Indeed, Oliver, you have a gift.”

Oliver shrugged nonchalantly and smiled.

“Hey, why did you decide to come and talk to us in the first place? Do you, like, approach random guys all the time?” Castiel asked after a while.

“You seemed like you could use a good time. I know how boring school trips can be,” he winked.

“Well, I’m glad you were here to help us with that,” Dean smiled.

“Guys, we need to head out,” Charles said as he passed by them.

“Sure, we’ll be right there.”

“Listen, if you guys ever get bored, give me a call,” Oliver wrote his number on Cas’ hand and they recited their numbers to him. After they had said their goodbyes, Cas and Dean entered the number into their phones.

“Who knew we would meet such a guy here. I thought all British were stuck up,” Dean grinned.

“Indeed, he seems like quite a character,” Cas agreed.

They finally found their way around and joined the rest of the class. It was time to go home. They were all tired but the thought of food waiting for them at the houses motivated them to go faster. Soon enough they reached the _Caupona_ pub and it was time to go their separate ways.

The only problem was that they couldn’t. As all the other students slipped away, Dean and Alex awkwardly stood in the middle.

Alex turned off the music, “So...”

“Yeah,” Dan agreed.

“Can we just go to my place?” Alex asked.

“Of course, I’d love to go home with you,” Dan smiled innocently.

Alex glared at him, “I think Ellen should have some strong detergent, we can use that to unglue our hands.”

She noticed Rose in the distance, standing besides Charles. He was whispering something to her that made her blush but she also couldn’t fully cover up her smile. Alex smirked at the sight. She tugged at Dan.

“Come now, we don’t have the whole day.”

\------

Meanwhile, Tessa and Hayley had already arrived at Grimmauld place. They had walked in complete silence the whole way. Tessa was still upset about what had happened earlier and Hayley... It was always a bad sign when she wasn’t talking. It could only mean one thing-she was plotting something.

Tessa aggressively rang the doorbell at number 12 and shot upstairs to their room as soon as the door opened. The house creeped her out and she had no intentions of lingering on the staircase any longer than required.

“What happened to her?” asked their hostess, a young redhead named Ginny.

“Hello, Mrs Potter,” Hayley brightly at her and walked in, “She’s just a little upset.” Hayley leaned in, “Boy trouble,” she whispered with a sincere expression.

Ginny nodded sympathetically, “I’ve had enough of that in my time.”

\------

“So, who was that guy you and Dean were talking to?” Charles asked as they were nearing their destination.

“You mean Oliver? He’s a guy we met about,” Castiel glanced at his watch, “Two hours ago. So I wouldn’t know who he is, but I do know what he’s like.”

Charles sighed. Castiel was cool, but he was sometimes difficult to talk to. “Yeah, yeah, that’s what I meant.”

“Well, Oliver seems to be an amusing bloke. I’m happy to have met him.”

A sound of a text message startles them both.

_“Hey, it’s Oliver, remember me? Are you free this afternoon?”_

Charles was peaking over Castiel’s shoulder. “Lupus in fabula,” he said.

Castiel ignored him, but Charles kept going, “Are you sure it’s smart to go out with a guy you met two hours ago?”

“It’s not a date, Dean will be there too,” Castiel said absently, concentrated on typing a reply.

_Sure, where should we meet you?_

Oliver replied in a matter of seconds. “ _Dean_ ’s _coming, too? We can meet near Trafalgar Square. At 7 p.m”._

“That shouldn’t be a problem,” Castiel commented out loud. Charles shook his head but let it go. If Cas wants to go out with Dean, he won’t be the one to stop him. Besides, since Castiel was to be out this evening, it was time for Charles to make his own plans.

\------

_Hey, Rosey_ , the text read, _I’m bored. Let’s have some fun. ;)_

Rose shifted awkwardly, playing with her phone. She started to type the reply, and then deleted everything she wrote. Dan and Alex were in the bathroom, working on their hands. And they were loud. Rose couldn’t hear her own thoughts. She needed to get out of here.

The Singers’ land was huge-she was pretty sure that they even had horses and other live stock and she wanted to go pet them. Although they were further away from the rest of the houses, someone could always give Charles a ride.

_Can you get someone to drive you over?_

“Stop pushing!” Alex shouted from the bathroom.

“I can’t pull it away!” Dan shouted back.

Rose choked on air at the choice of words. “You guys okay?” she asked through the tightly shut door.

There was a crashing sound and a curse. “Um, yeah, we’re good. Almost finished!” Alex shouted.

Rose giggled, “Take your time.” Her phone vibrated in her lap and she jumped a little.

_Sure, their driver can give me a lift. Where’s the house at?_

She texted him the address and waltzed over in front of the bathroom. She knocked and opened the door without waiting for a reply. Alex and Dan were on the floor and she was straddling him.

“Rose! Don’t barge in like that! Dan, stop trying to get away!” she yelled.

“But it stings!” Dan whined.

“If you are done defiling the floor, I’d like to notify you that Charles will be coming over soon. We are going to look at the horses.”

Alex jumped off Dan and this time both her hands were free. Dan followed her, a deep blush on both their faces.

“You are free to join us, if you’d like,” Rose added.

Alex looked at Dan with a silent question.

He shrugged, “Sure.”

“We’ve got to ask Ellen first,” Alex commented.

“Damn, forgot about that,” Rose bit her lip, “Can you do it?”

“Fine,” Alex huffed.

The trio padded downstairs. Ellen was making pancakes and Rose silently moaned at the delicious smell.

“Hey, Ellen?” Alex started.

“What is it, honey?”

“We were wondering if we could go look around the farm.” They all pulled on their best Angelic faces.

Ellen huffed a laugh, “Of course, just be careful. And no funny business!” She raised a finger at them.

\------

Charles came shortly after. He swaggered up to the house, skipping every other stair. He rang a bell and a short blond girl opened the door. She raised her eyebrow, “Who are you?”

“Who are _you_?” Charles retorted.

“I asked first,” girl smirked at him and folded her arms.

“I’m Charles Tyler, here by the invite of one and only Rose Stark,” he smiled.

“Rooose, your boyfriend is here,” the girl shouted and Charles smirked.

“I’m Jo, by the way. Come on in. I think they’re in the kitchen, stuffing themselves with my mum’s pancakes,” she led him through the hall.

“Charles is NOT my boyfriend,” Rose said as she entered the room.

“You know you love me,” he put an arm around her shoulder and turned her back to where he supposed was kitchen, “Come on, someone mentioned pancakes.”

In the kitchen he found Alex and Dan. Charles’ face fell a little- he kind of, sort of, maybe hoped to be alone with Rose. Dan was currently standing by the stove, fumbling with a pancake.

“Noob,” Charles laughed and took over his place. He turned out to be an expert in flipping pancakes. Ellen had come to see who arrived. Jo asked her if she could go with them to the farm tour, but Ellen forbade her and went about her business again. Jo pouted and went to her own room. Probably to polish her knife collection.

“Where exactly are we going?” Charles asked, swallowing the last bite.

“We’re going on an adventure!” Rose said excitedly, as she leaned in and brushed a corner of his mouth. He raised an eyebrow and smirked at her. She blushed, “You had some chocolate on.”

“I’m sweet all over. So, horses? A roll in the hay, then?” he wiggled his eyebrows.


	12. Chapter 12

Castiel had watched Charles get ready for his date and go. After that, he was alone in the room. Naomi and Crowley were downstairs but Castiel felt something was strange. Then he realised- it was quiet. Meg was nowhere to be seen. He frowned and glanced at his phone. Dean had confirmed that he was coming but it was still too early to meet with Oliver. So Castiel went in the living room.

“Hello, Mr. Masters.”

Crowley nodded at him, sipping his 5 o’clock tea.

Castiel sat on the sofa opposite of the older man and looked around the room. It was decorated in beige and mahogany coloured furniture. There was a big fireplace and a wooden moose head above it. Castiel started tracing circles on the sofa and glanced at Crowley. He had his eyes closed and eyebrows raised and seemed to be deep in his thoughts. Castiel started tapping his fingers and wondered why the hell he wanted to socialize in the first place.

“So, where is Meg?”

“Out,” Crowley replied without opening his eyes.

Castiel thought it was the end of the conversation when Crowley’s eyes suddenly snapped open.

“She is probably with those friends of her,” he proceeded, “Those hooligans.”

“I’m sure they aren’t that bad, sir.”

Crowley shook his head, “There is this girl, Ruby. I know her mother and I’d rather not have my daughter spend her free time in the streets with that girl. London can be dangerous if you don’t know your way around it. You have to know who to trust.”

Castiel took a few moments to choose his words, “I guess it’s normal for parents to worry about their children,” _I wouldn’t really know,_ he added to himself, “But Meg seems like a smart girl. Don’t dwell on it too much.”

Crowley gave him a sharp look. _This champ seems alright_ , he thought. He slowly nodded.

“Have you got any plans for this lovely evening, Castiel?” Crowley asked as he stood up and went to pour himself a glass of something alcoholic. It looked like whiskey with ice.

“Ah, yes. I’m going to meet up with a friend of mine in town.” Castiel patted his knees weakly and stood up. “Speaking of which, I shouldn’t keep him waiting.” He smiled.

Crowley nodded and gave him an icy glare, “Stay safe and keep out of Whitechapel.”

“Of course sir.” Castiel nodded. It wasn’t time to go yet but this conversation was getting awkward and he was running out of patience. He could always walk around for a while, there was a nice little park he could visit- his train of thought was interrupted by a knock on the door.

As he was closest to them, he opened. “Dean?” He said, but it came out as a question.

Dean looked nervous, “Uh, Hi Cas.” He said. “I know it’s early but I was bored and Dan is over at Alex’s with Rose and Charles. I hope you don’t mind I asked Charles for the address.” Dean said all in one breath.

Castiel chuckled, “You could have asked me.”

“Asked you what?” Dean seemed genuinely concerned.

“The address,” Castiel said. He got his coat and motioned for Dean to move so he can get out.

“Oh, I guess I didn’t think of it.” He blushed horribly red.

“It’s okay; I was just going out because Charles is, as you said, away and I was bored.” Castiel patted his shoulder.

“Well, it’s too early to go wait for Oliver, where to now?” Dean asked as he shoved his hands into his jacket pockets.

“There’s this nice little park around the corner. We could go there?” Castiel said hopefully. Dean nodded and they started walking.

“So, how do you like your family?” Dean asked after a few minutes of silence, they were nearing the park.

“They seem nice, they fear for their daughter and love her a lot. They’re a little posh, though.” Castiel smiled.

“Well they are British,” Dean commented.

Castiel laughed, “How about you?”

Dean hummed, “I don’t know. I barely see them. The guy works all day and the chick is always in the kitchen. The only time they are together is dinner, a little stereotypical if you ask me.”

They entered the park and the silence took over, it was just getting dark and everything was peaceful. It was nice being out in the fresh, but cool air. The birds were alive even in the twilight and the little lake was sparking. One might call the attire ‘romantic’.

Castiel went over to the pond and crouched besides it. He watched the sinking sun reflect on the surface. He felt Dean’s presence next to him. Dean picked up a few pebbles and started throwing them in the lake, causing ripples. A comfortable silence enveloped them and neither wanted to break it.  Having spent all his pebbles, Dean sat down.

“It’s amazing, isn’t it?”

“What exactly? This particular collection of water droplets? This park? You and I being right here right now? This city? This world?” Castiel said, still staring into the distance.

“Yes,” Dean said, a lazy smile spreading on his face. Castiel’s head snapped towards Dean and he swallowed. Golden dots in Dean’s eyes were sparkling in the sunset and Dean looked so carefree. It filled Castiel’s heart with happiness that threatened to choke him. He unconsciously started leaning down.

And then his phone started ringing. The sound was carried over the water and scared a few ducks out of the reeds.

“I think you should get that.”

“Right,” Castiel fumbled with his phone. He felt blush rise into his cheeks. He saw Oliver’s name on the screen.

“Hello?” Castiel said into the phone.

“Hi mate,” Oliver chirped, “Can you meet me south of Trafalgar Square over at Charing Cross?”

“Um, yeah we’ll do that.” Castiel said as if he knew of what Oliver was talking. He looked questioningly at Dean who shrugged.

“Great, see you soon.” The phone call ended.

“Where the heck is that?” Dean asked after a few confusing moments.

Castiel held up his Smartphone. “Google maps can tell us,” he smiled proudly and Dean nodded.

 ------

“Charles, slow down! You’re going too fast, you’ll fall off!” Rose groaned.

“Where the fuck did you learn how to ride like that?” Dan asked as he shakily operated the black horse named Tibbers.

“Family owned a ranch,” He called back.

“You’re bullshitting,” Alex accused. “There is no freaking way anyone owns a ranch in our part of Croatia.” She continued with a renewed glare in Charles’ direction.

“Okay, so maybe my sister took some horseback riding classes and I was forced to join her.” Charles shrugged nonchalantly.

He was met with sniggers from Dan and Alex.

“Dude, that’s so gay.”

“Didn’t your butt hurt from all the riding?” Alex added.

“Screw you, guys,” Charles shot back, a little red in the face. Rose took pity on the fellow and spoke up.

“I actually find it a very elegant sport. It’s also very good for your cardiovascular system and muscles,” she defended.

“Yeah, but, um, I took only a few lessons.”

Rose sighed, “I’m trying to help you out here, Charles, co-operate.”

“Well,” Alex smirked, “I’m sorry I insulted your prince charming on a white horse and shining armour.”

Rose honestly didn’t know why everyone kept forcing the subject. Charles never actually asked her out on a real date. She blinked a few times to push the thoughts away. “His horse has black spots, get your facts straight,” and that was all she managed to come up with.

“Besides, “truly white” horses are very rare. Most horses that are commonly referred to as “white” are actually “gray” horses whose hair coats are completely white,” Charles jumped in.

“You must be fun at parties,” Dan said.

“I don’t go to parties,” Charles grinned at turned to Rose, “How was that for co-operating?”

 ------ 

Led by the all-mighty power of Google Maps, boys reached Charing Cross.

“Why didn’t he just say to meet him at the Square?” Dean asked, looking around the Trafalgar, “Why does he have to be so bloody fancy?”

“He’s rubbing off onto you,” Castiel commented, engrossed in his phone.

“What?”

“You just said _bloody_ instead of _freaking_ or _fucking_.”

Dean hummed, trying to ignore the fact that this was probably the first time he ever heard Castiel say a swear word. He also tried to ignore the fact that it was bloody _hot_. He pushed _those_ thoughts aside as they saw the scrawny figure leaning against a building.

“Did you know that the Charing Cross is named after the now demolished Eleanor cross that stood there?” Castiel said as he read off of his phone. “It’s near the Scotland Yard.”

“That’s nice,” Dean commented. “I think that’s Oli over there.” He waved at the silhouette and it waved back. He smiled to himself, content that it wasn’t some stranger.

As they approached he noticed that Oliver wasn’t alone. There were several more people sitting down next to him.

“Hello mates, I hope you don’t mind, I brought some friends.” He grinned easily.

“That’s all right,” Cas said sounding a little unsure.

“Where are we going anyway?” Dean asked as he squared his shoulders.   

Oliver’s grin grew, he was all shark teeth and beady eyes. “To Middle Temple Gardens.” 


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long, long, loong haitus   
> ....to whoever is reading this..

“Where is that?” Castiel asked reluctantly.

“You'll see soon enough,” Oliver winked at him.

\-----

The horses were slowly trotting next to each other. Well, Dan’s and Alex’s were. Rose was trying to catch up with Charles, whose horse was vigorously galloping ahead.

“And if you look to your left, you’ll see a mentally disturbed idiot riding a white horse,” Dan said, motioning towards the sight with an amused grin.

Alex chuckled. “Good thing it’s a horse,” she smirked as Dan almost fell off his horse from all the laughter.

“Oh my God,” he finally managed, “I love you so much.”

It took a few moments for the words to reach Alex’s brain. Her heart started beating faster and she blushed. Again. She never used to blush this much before.

“Hold yer horses, boy,” she said, trying hard not to let her happiness show on her face, “I don’t think Tessa would be glad to hear that.”

She saw his eyes immediately grow a shade darker than his usual baby blues. He suppressed a groan. _What Tessa doesn’t know can’t hurt her_ , he thought and mentally slapped himself. He wasn’t a player. He was always proud of his honesty. And right now, he couldn’t recognize himself.

“Umm, I didn’t mean it like that?” he tried to get out of the sticky situation.

“You didn’t?” she tried to sound flirty but she felt her heart sink.

“Um, it was a ‘heat of the moment’ thing?” Dan offered helplessly.

Alex was about to reply when a girly shrill interrupted her, and captured both of their attention.

“Oh no,” Dan groaned.

“Damn why didn’t I see that.” Alex shook her fist at the sky, “Curses.”

Charles was laying in a mud puddle quite the size. Rose was on her horse next to him, laughing at Charles.

“What happened?” Dan asked, trying to contain his laughter. 

“Uh the horse kinda threw me off.” Charles said as he ran a muddy hand through his hair. Realising what he did he sighed deeply.

“Well, I’d help you but after I get off of this horse I won’t be able to walk.” Rose said.

“Is it from all the riding?” Alex smirked as Rose blushed. “Awn your cheeks now match your name.” She said.

“’Aint she _rosy_ ,” Dan giggled.

“Oh, nice one.”  Alex high fived him.

“Helooou, still in the mud over here.” Charles whined.

“Well get out of there,” Dan said with a smirk.

“Goddamn all of you,” Charles grumbled.

“Charles, that shirt is muddy.” Rose stated as Charles stood up. They all looked at her as if to say ‘ _thank you captain Obvious’._

Charles just nodded instead and took off the shirt.

“For Christ’s sake I didn’t mean take it off!” Rose looked away.

Alex whistled shamelessly, “Hey it’s probably better this way.” They shot her a confused look. “I mean, if he leaves it on for too long he could get pneumonia.” She shrugged.

With a few comments here and there and after finding Charles’ horse they trotted back to the house.

\-----

They have been walking for about quarter of an hour, chatting about everything and nothing in particular. Oliver’s friends were nice enough, Dean supposed. Not exactly a kind of people he would usually hang out with, but he decided to give them a chance. There were three of them, and they didn’t talk much to Dean and Cas. Oliver was obviously their ringleader and he initiated most of the conversations with the new comers, while his friends sniggered between themselves.

“Umm,” Castiel eventually said, “Aren’t we in the wrong street?”

Oliver turned to him, scanned him from head to toe and noticed a smart phone in Castiel’s hand.

“Google Maps, eh? I should have known it,” Oliver muttered, still smiling. Castiel raised his eyebrows, and Oliver sighed.

“I should have been honest with you from the start. We aren’t really going to the Gardens.”

“Where are you taking us?” Dean unconsciously clenched his fists.

“To our usual hangout,” Oliver motioned with his head to his friends, “Ye Olde Cock.”

“Excuse me? What did you just call me?” Dean asked, causing roars of laughter from Josh, Stan and Lee. Oliver only smirked.

“Ye Olde Cock Tavern is where we usually hang out.”

“Oh,” Dean felt stupid and he liked the situation less and less. He didn’t like people laughing at him.

“Let’s go,” Oliver moved on.

Dean stayed fixed at the spot until Castiel whispered in his ear, “Come, Dean.”

He guided him in.

The tavern was better than he expected. Dean sighed in relief. They went to the usual booth of Oliver’s gang. A waiter approached them and Dean couldn’t help noticing his sparkly brown eyes.

“Bring us all a beer, Ryan,” Oliver said.

“I don’t drink,” Castiel jumped in.

“Oh come on, you have to try it,” Oliver smiled at him.

“I really don’t,” Castiel cut him off. “I’ll just have a black coffee, please,” he nodded at the waiter.

Oliver shrugged, “Do as you please. I hope you’re not mad we brought you here instead of the Gardens.”

“Nah, man, it’s okay. This place isn’t that bad after all.” Dean said.

“Despite it being so crudely named,” Castiel muttered.

Oli and his gang laughed, “I forget you people are so silly. No, it means cock as in, what’s the word...” He snapped his fingers in the air.

“Rooster,” Josh supplied.

“Yes, that one.” Oliver smiled at Josh and Josh grinned in return.

Dean squinted at him but before he could say anything Ryan the waiter brought them their drinks.

They nodded and Oliver offered to pay for both Dean’s and Cas’ drinks. They kindly refused, not wanting to be rude.

Half an hour later Oliver received a phone call. He was cheery and well behaved up until he answered the phone. He excused himself and left the table. 

Dean and Cas made awkward conversations with the 3 teens who were with them.

After he returned, Oliver tried to hide his foul mood and smiled not so happily at everyone. “Well I say, let’s dump this place and head for the Gardens.” He clasped his hands and made a move for the door.

“What was that all about?” Castiel asked Dean quietly.

“I don’t know, but it sure did mess up his demeanour.” Dean replied.

“I don’t know, Dean. I don’t like it, let’s just head home.” Castiel hugged his arms around himself defensively.

Dean looked at him for a moment and nodded, “Yeah, okay.” They caught up to Oliver and Dean pulled him back. “Hey Oliver, it’s getting late we need to be heading back.” Dean awkwardly shuffled on his feet.

Oliver made a displeased sound, “Oh come on guys the night is still young. We need to make the best of it, eh?” 

“Yeah, yeah, I know, but we’re not here on vacation and we need to get up early. I’m sorry man; we’ll talk to you tomorrow.” Dean said and Oliver bid his goodbyes. Castiel waved at him awkwardly and swiftly walked away with Dean.

“Shame, such a shame.” Oliver muttered to himself.

\-----

Charles ruffled his freshly washed hair. He never knew one could get as dirty as he did today. Ellen was kind enough to wash his clothes. He silently thanked her as he pulled on his pants, standing in the middle of Rose’s and Alex’s room. He heard steps on the stairs and paused with his shirt in his hands.

It was Rose who slipped in the room. She closed the door and leaned on it. He noticed she subtly looked him up and down and he smirked. “I’m up here.”

“Oh please, like you aren’t enjoying yourself,” she retorted. “Dan called Balthazar, his host. He says he can drop you off at the Masters’ house.”

“Really?” Charles asked, approaching her.

“Mhmm,” she hummed as he finally decided to put on his shirt, “Apparently Bela, that would be Balthazar’s wife...” He was now only a few centimetres away. “Bela seems to know Crowley, that’s your host, but you already know that, to know him from somewhere.” She could smell her own apple-scented shampoo in his hair. He bent his head towards her.

“Charles, come on, we have to get going!” Dan shouted from downstairs.

Charles laughed helplessly, “Seems like this will have to be continued some time later.”

She blinked, “I guess.” She moved to the side to let him through the door.

He was almost by the stairs when he heard her call his name.

“Charles, wait up,” he turned around to see her hurrying towards him. She smiled at him, got on her tiptoes and kissed him.

He was taken by surprise but quickly recovered from it and wrapped his arms around her.

“Charles, what the hell is taking so long?” Dan shouted.

Rose pulled away, breathing heavily, “You should probably get going.” She gave him a peck on the lips and skipped back to her room.

“Charles, for the love of...” Dan was climbing up.

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Charles finally graced him with an answer, and left, his lips still burning up.

\-----

Dean and Cas were slowly making their way back to Charing Cross.

“God, it’s so cold.” Castiel muttered quietly, but apparently loud enough for Dean to hear because he pulled Castiel to his side.

Castiel took the sign and looped his hand through Dean’s, snuggling closer to him. No one commented on it and that was okay. Once at the Charing Cross they called for a taxi.

The first stop was Castiel’s place, well the place he was staying at.

He looked at dean with a slight smile, “Goodbye Dean, I had fun.” He exited the black car but before he could get any further Dean was up and out behind him, grabbing his wrist and pulling him in for a kiss. 

Castiel was stunned but he soon returned the kiss and their lips moved in sync.

Dean pulled away with a shy grin, his cheeks red and green eyes shining. “Good night, Cas.”  He got back into the car and it drove off.

Castiel lifted his hand slowly and touched his lips; with a smile he entered the house.

\-----

By the end of their first real day in London they were all exhausted but excited for another one.

Charles ignored Cas when he returned, both of them in their own little fantasies.

Dan angsted over his failing relationship with Tessa and Dean blushed every time he remembered the kiss.

Rose stayed up texting with Charles while Alex silently drew Dan on a horse in her notebook.

 


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so eternally sorry if anybody is still reading this the tags may change and it's taking forever to finish this story.   
> And we're just getting started.   
> Apologies my friends, we've been to London and it's been a busy summer.

The alarm on Charles's phone went off. Charles groaned and put a pillow over his head, but Castiel was already wide awake. The sun was shining, the birds were singing and the butterflies in his stomach were dancing.

“Come on, Charles, we don’t want to be late,” Castiel warned, having come back from the toilet and finding Charles still in bed. “Come on, London Eye awaits!”

“Mnyah,” was the only reply, “London Eye can wait.” Then his phone lit up and vibrated, signalling an incoming message. Castiel has never seen anyone get out of the bed that fast, phone safe in his hand. Castiel raised his eyebrows, but decided not to question it.

\------

The walk from the meeting point to the London Eye lasted about half an hour but the ride to the meeting point had lasted an eternity.

Once there, they split up into groups, but before Dean and Castiel could find their crew, they ended up in the capsule alone, except for a couple of old ladies who frowned at them.

“So,” Dean started with a sly grin.

“Hi,” Castiel smiled and linked his arm with Dean’s. They didn’t really get a chance to talk about yesterday, but all seemed pretty clear to them.

“Hi yourself,” Dean leaned in to kiss Castiel but his phone rang.

_Dean, my boy, what have you been keeping from us?_

It was a text from Hayley. Dean looked at it with a puzzled look. Another text arrived shortly after. It was from Charles this time.

_Turn around, dumbass._

He turned around to see that in the next capsule was the whole crew, cheering and fist-bumping.

“Oh no,” Cas groaned and hid his face in his hands.

And that was when Dean noticed how high above the ground they were.

“Ah, shit,” he muttered and gripped the rail, but that only put him closer to the edge. Cas put a comforting hand on his shoulder, “It’s going to be fine.” He smiled, knowing very well that Dean doesn’t like heights.

“Hey, it’s okay, don’t think about it. Just look at Alex, she hates heights as much as you do and she seems to be doing fine,” Castiel motioned to the other capsule where Alex was gripping the rail but was distracted by Rose and Hayley.

“Easy for her, she’s got a distraction,” Dean muttered grimly, not really thinking further than _‘We’re gonna die, we’re gonna die a horrible falling death.’_

“A distraction you say?” Castiel grinned and moved towards Dean.  

“Cas, what’re you-” Dean started to say but all his thoughts flew out the window when Cas kissed him. Now _that_ was a distraction. Needless to say that he wasn’t thinking about anything besides Cas’ lips and his figure fitted against his own.

He pointedly ignored the wolf whistles from the other capsule and his phone buzzing crazily.

They parted due to one of the old ladies clearing her throat. Dean was breathless not only because of Cas but because of the view as well. You could see all of London from the top of the wheel. The all-seeing eye literally saw everything. From Big Ben and the Parliament to the other side and that phallic shaped building they made fun of. It was truly marvellous to see it all.  


\------

When the great ferries wheel finally came to a halt and it was their turn to leave, Dean’s knees felt wobbly. He was glad to have the hard ground beneath his feet again, but even more glad that he had Castiel’s soft lips all to himself again.

As their friends approached them, Castiel gripped Dean’s hand tighter. It was a subtle shifting of muscles, but Dean noticed it and looked at Castiel’s face. It held a stern expression, like he was preparing for a confrontation. Dean slightly frowned and opened his mouth to ask what was wrong but Dan’s voice cut him off.

“Hey, you guys! It was about time you two got together!”

“We’re going to need you to tell us all about it,” Rose smiled.

“Well, not everything, no,” Charles added with a smirk. Someone suddenly pushed him from behind and he almost fell face first. “Hey, watch where you’re going!” He turned around to see Gordon’s face.

“You’re blocking the path, idiots. Move out of the way (bitch).”

Dean looked ahead and saw that they were indeed moving, along the pier to the Big Ben. But it didn’t mean Gordon had to be a jerk about it. “You could’ve just asked us to move, you know. Or like, circled around us. But I guess you weren’t smart enough to think of that.”

Luckily, the stream of people carried them away before Gordon could react.

Castiel was surprised; he certainly wasn’t expecting this sort of reaction. Though times have changed, people still tended to over-react. He was glad to have such a supportive group of friends who had accepted him so easily. He took out his phone and frowned at it, he had one missed call from his father. That wasn’t good, he was sure he’d get lectured on it later. Cas debated on whether he should call his father now or later and he hadn’t noticed that he drifted off from the group of people he was with.

‘Ah, shit.’ He thought to himself, ‘Way to go Castiel, get yourself lost in London. Idiot.’ He did a double take and realised he was standing in the middle of a moving row of people. Nobody paid him any mind and he couldn’t see any familiar faces.

Fear started creeping up his spine, this wasn’t good at all.

Suddenly, there was a hand on his shoulder, he wanted to scream, to shout to call for help but when he spun around he saw Oliver’s smiling face.

“Cas, mate, you look like hell.” He said cheerfully.

“Wow, thanks. Jesus Christ man, you almost gave me a heart attack.” Castiel panted and glared at the smiling Brit.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to. You look lost, where are your buddies?” Oliver quirked a brow.

“Yeah, it just happens that I am indeed lost. I have no idea where they went.” He frowned.

“Oh well,” Oliver shrugged, “I can help you find them if you want?” He offered.

“Thanks, means a lot.” Cas nodded.

“Well then, shall we?” Oliver gave him a crooked grin and held out his hand in a general direction of the crew’s movement.

\------

“Why didn't you tell us before?” Dan nudged Dean’s shoulder.

Alex frowned, “Dan, stop, maybe you’re making Dean uncomfortable.”

“Well, that’s what I do best,” he sniggered.

“Obviously,” she rolled her eyes, which means she missed the hurt look on Dan’s face. _What the..._ he thought.

“Calm down, you guys, it’s okay. Cas and I just wanted to tell you together,” he turned in Cas’ direction and he felt his stomach drop when he found no one. His eyes stayed fixed on the gaping hole, as if he could conjure Castiel using his will. Then he looked around and still saw no trace of the unruly mop of black hair. He started to breathe faster. Where did Castiel go?

“But where is Cas?” Rose voiced Dean’s thoughts. He turned to her and she was startled to find sheer panic on his face.

“I don’t know,” he squeaked out.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure he’s just fallen behind somewhere.” She hurried to comfort him.

“One of the perks of living in the twenty-first century,” Alex had a superior look on her face, “Is that you can just call a person you’re looking for.”

“Oh, right,” Dean fumbled for his phone and tapped on the screen.

\------

Oliver tried to keep the conversation going, but all his attempts failed miserably. Castiel didn’t care for small talk right now – he was anxious to get back to his friends. He scanned the approaching faces of the pedestrians, in search for a familiar face.

And that’s when his phone rang. The shrill ringing broke the silence. He mentally slapped himself. Of course, the phone! _I could’ve just texted someone_ , he thought, digging for his phone. But he didn’t see a teenager riding a bicycle in their direction. The guy had earphones in and didn’t seem to have a care in the world.

“Hey, watch out!” Oliver pushed Castiel to the side. He tripped and fell, hurting his knee. His phone gave one last ring before shattering on the ground.

“Stupid teenagers,” Oliver muttered under his breath and yelled a curse after the cyclist.

“He’s not picking up! Why isn’t he picking up?!” Dean paced in circles frantically.

“I’m sure he’s fine,” Charles patted his back somewhat comfortingly and awkwardly.

“Jeez Charles, might as well have a broom with the way you’re patting him.” Alex grumbled as she tried to call Castiel as well.

“’Person you have tried to reach is unavailable.’ What the hell does that mean?!” Dean shouted.   
“This is all my fault, I let go of his hand for a moment and he disappears.”

“Dean, don’t be silly. It’s not your fault, he’s not a child you can’t keep holding his hand everywhere!” Hayley shook Dean by the shoulders.

“Just you see, if we find him I’ll never let his hand go!” Dean growled.

“ _When_ we find him, because we will. Don’t worry Dean; I’m sure things will work out.” Rose said.

“Shouldn't we notify the professor, though?” Dan asked as he pointed to where Prof. Michael and Prof. Inja were chatting.

“I think one accident per trip is enough,” Alex said as she recalled the incident with David.

“So what should we do then?” Charles crossed his arms over his chest.

“We ask for help,” Alex turned her phone and showed them a blog.

_‘Junior Consulting Detective for hire.  
221B, Baker Street.’_


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We actually go some writing done, yaay

“Oh come on Alex, you can't be serious.” Rose snorted. “We can’t even be sure that anything happened to Cas at all. He might have just fallen behind.”

“Oh no, no. Trust me, I know. Cas wouldn’t have fallen behind unless he was distracted. What if somebody attacked him?!” Dean continued to panic.

“What, in the middle of the street on a busy day like this? He’d sooner get trampled over by a crowd than get attacked.” Dan scoffed.

Dean’s face fell and he gaped at his friend.

Alex smacked him upside the head, “Not helping, moron.”

“Would you two cut it out, I have a plan.” Charles interjected and looked at the group of people who were waiting for him to speak.   
“I think we should split up.”

The group groaned collectively.

“Really, I knew you were dumb but I had no idea.” Hayley looked at him disapprovingly.

“Charles, that’s sweet but don’t you think we’ve had enough splitting up. I mean, this whole mess started because Cas got separated from us.” Rose said with a gentle voice.

Charles pouted, “Fine, whatever.”

“So what? We first make sure he’s not at the end of the line then we go for serious help?” Alex crossed her arms and glanced towards Dean.

“I guess so; we’ll wait for the line of people to pass before we do anything irrational.” Rose confirmed and Dean nodded sadly.

They all exited the mass of people that was moving towards the bridge and sat onto the pier’s railing.

.....

Castiel jumped to his feet. He was still dishevelled from the near-death experience. Okay, maybe he was exaggerating a bit, but he didn’t want to imagine the bruises he would’ve had if the cyclist had crashed into him at full speed.

He noticed Oliver fumbling with what used to be his phone. “Hand it over, maybe I can fix it,” he said without too much hope, but he had to try.

“This thing ain’t going to work again,” Oliver said casually, “The SIM card snapped. But here, see for yourself.” He gave the remains of phone to Castiel. Sure enough, the tiny card was snapped in two, and the screen had scratches that weren’t there before. The phone could easily be assembled again, but without a SIM card, he couldn’t contact anyone. Castiel sighed.

“Can I use your phone? I need to call Dean,” he asked Oliver.

The Brit looked uncomfortable and scratched his head, “Sorry, mate, I left it at home. But don’t worry; we’ll get you back to your people. Now, do you know where you guys were headed before you got lost?”

“Yes, actually, we’re on a schedule, I have the plan somewhere here...” he checked his pockets to find a small paperback. He opened it and saw that Dean had scribbled something on the first page.

_Good thing we have a map in here, because I got lost in your eyes._

Castiel couldn’t help laughing a little.

“What is it?” Oliver startled him. Castiel felt his cheeks burn up as he flipped through a couple of pages and skimmed through the schedule.

“Nothing. Here, I found it. They’re supposed to go to Big Ben and Westminster Abbey, and later Buckingham Palace,” he looked up at Oliver, “Think you can get me there in time?”

“Sure, mate. No problem-o.”

......

“See! I told you! He’s not here, and now- thanks to Dan, I’m sure he got crushed by a crowd of angry teenagers much like us!” Dean shouted at his travelling companions.

Everyone glared at Dan except for Hayley who just patted his head.   
“Can’t blame him, he doesn’t have a brain-to-mouth filter.” She said and Dan nodded in confirmation.

Alex sighed, “Okay so, do we go to the guy _now?_ ”

“No, not yet. We’ll stay here for a while; does anybody have the plan book they gave out?” Rose asked.

“Of course!” Charles shouted, “Cas has ours!”

“You couldn’t have said that earlier?!” Dean growled.

“Chill, I didn’t think of it. Can you blame me; you know I’m more looks than brains.” He said with a sheepish smile.

“There, Cas is smart. He’ll probably find his own way to out next destination. We’ll just meet him there.” Hayley spread her hands and indicated for the crew to move on with the journey. “I wish you would have thought of that earlier, would have saved us a lot of panicking.” Hayley added once they were moving. “Damn, idiot- I don’t know what you see in him.” She turned to Rose with a judging look.

Rose shrugged, and turned away with a bright blush.

“Okay, we just pass the bridge then turn right to get to the Chapel Church thing.” Alex, who was navigating the map, said.

“And we shall be reunited with Cas again.” Charles cheered.

......

 Oliver was one of those people who talked at enviable speed and flailed his arms around while explaining things. He also had the capacity to remember a lot of useless information.

_He should become a tourist guide. Or a teacher,_ Castiel thought while his companion ranted about the pollution of the Thames and its affect on the flora and fauna. Then he tried to imagine Oliver in a suit, pacing in front of a blackboard. _No, better not._

His treacherous thoughts drifted off to Dean, as they’ve been doing a lot lately. Dean and the rest of his friends were bound to have noticed his absence by now. He wondered what they’d do about it. He didn’t want them to alarm anyone, because it would be terribly embarrassing to admit he’d gotten lost, once he gets back.

Hopefully his friends won’t do anything stupid, like go looking for him.

Still, he felt something nagging on his brain to get his attention. Something wasn’t quite right, but he couldn’t zero in on it. Oliver was now showing him something in a gift shop. Castiel nodded sincerely as Oliver twirled a mini Big Ben in his hand. Oliver laughed as he dropped the souvenir back in the bowl and quickly shoved his hand in his pockets. Not thinking, Castiel followed his lead. He felt the pieces of his phone under his fingers, and he suddenly knew what was wrong. The phone had fallen apart at the impact with the ground, but that wasn’t anything new. Castiel had dropped his phone a couple of times already.

_But why was the SIM card broken?_

......

“He’s not here. Why is he not here?” Dean grabbed Charles by the shoulders and shook him.

Rose pried Dean’s hands away and straightened Charles’s shirt. “Relax Dean, he knows where to go. And there are our people, across the road. We didn’t even stray that far. He’ll recognize Mela’s hair anywhere. He’ll be fine.” Rose said and looked over to where Mela was animatedly talking to Gordana.

“How can you stay so calm?” Dean stared at her intensively.

She shied away from his angry look and turned to Dan, who was monitoring the phones in case Cas called. “Any news?” She asked, ignoring Dean’s question.

“Nothing yet, either his battery is dead or he-” Dan was interrupted by Hayley’s shove.

“Finish that sentence, I dare you.” She warned him.

“I was gonna say ‘or he turned the phone off’, Jesus, not like I was gonna suggest he’s dead or anything.” Dan muttered.

The group groaned collectively again.

“Hayley, he’s doing it again!” Dean whined.

“Dan, I suggest you keep quiet from now on. Man the phones and shut your pie hole.” Alex said with a dismissive wave of her hand. 

“Dan, what are you doing?” An annoying voice came from behind them.

Dan cringed and turned around slowly, “Leaning against a fence?” He said with an unsure tone.

“Don’t sass me mister, we’re supposed to be spending time together- and here you are with these bunch of losers.” She eyed them all with disgust.

“Can I strangle her, please?” Alex muttered quietly to Hayley.

Hayley grinned, “I think I’ll do it tonight for you.” Alex sniggered and fist bumped Hayley.

“Tessa, this isn’t the best time. Please we’re in the middle of something here.” Dan responded with resolve in his voice.

“Don’t you crisis me. You know what, when you decide you want to apologise for being rude, I’ll be with the girls.” Tessa flipped her hair and stormed away.

 “Tessa, better make sure none of them barfs on you, it might happen considering what you’re wearing!” Hayley shouted after her and Tessa screamed and angrily stomped away.

 “Uh oh, trouble in paradise.” Charles mumbled.

“Dean, where are you going?!” Charles shouted as Dean made a beeline next to him.

“To find Cas, I can’t stand around and do nothing while he might be out there hurt!” He said and continued to stalk away despite the warnings from the crew.

“We should follow him,” Dan said.

“Ahead of you,” Alex and Rose started after Dean. The rest followed shortly.

......

Castiel felt his heart beat faster. How was it possible for a card to break just like that? It’s not like it’s made of glass, it wouldn’t shatter. Nothing ran over it. It was as if someone broke it on purpose. But no one had even touched it except for him...and Oliver.

Castiel eyed Oliver warily and then took in his surroundings. They were in some park, with Big Ben looming on the other side of the river. They seem to have been going in the opposite way.

“Um, Oliver? I think we’re going the wrong way.”

“Nope,” Oliver dismissed him, “I know a faster way.”

“No, seriously,” Castiel stopped dead in his tracks, “We need to go back. I’m going back.”

“Oh, mate,” a slow smirk spread over Oliver’s face, “I hate to break it to you... But you’re not.”

Castiel felt something heavy connect with the back of his head and the world went black.


	16. Chapter 16

“Dean, where do you think you’re going?!” A voice shouted after him, strangely it wasn’t any of the crew- which was following dutifully. As soon as he realised who it was, Dean groaned.

“What do you want Sam?” He let all the irritation he had looming around in his head show on his face.

“I asked where the hell you think you were going when we’re headed for Trafalgar Square- which is the other way.” Sam stared at him like a petulant child.

“I’m going to search for Cas, and you’re not going to stop me.” Dean glared at his sibling.

“You lost Cas?!” Sam shouted at him.

“I didn’t lose him!” Dean shouted back.

Gabriel who was nowhere near, suddenly showed up and patted Sam on the back. He offered him a Snickers with the words “Here have a snickers, you turn into a right demon when you’re hungry.” Accompanied by a British accent.

Sam huffed loudly and batted Gabriel’s hand away, “That’s not how the commercial goes, and I don’t eat that junk.” He turned back to Dean who was already at the next traffic light. Sam groaned, “You let him get away!” He stated accusingly at Gabe.

Gabriel shrugged, “He’ll be fine.”

“Dad’s going to kill us...” Sam trailed off and returned to the group of students.

.......

Rose did not like this idea. Seriously, going off to search for a lost person, in the city that they’ve just arrived to? They could find their way well enough, with a little help from their loyal friend Google Maps, but she still had to admit that the city was huge and they didn’t know anyone around here. It was easy to feel small in this place. She glanced at Charles, who flashed her a reassuring smile. That made her feel a little better.

Alex was currently leading them to _Ye Old Cock._ They hoped Cas would think of the tavern, too, and make his way over there. Rose tried to keep hopeful, but as they approached the tavern, she couldn’t help thinking about what small odds they were aiming for.

They definitely should’ve alarmed someone.

.......

Dean slapped his hand on the counter, “You! Bartender!”

“Whoa, easy there,” the bartender said, strolling towards them.

“Have you seen a guy, about my height, dark hair, blue eyes?” Dean asked.

“He’s hot, too,” Dan offered. Alex, for once, let it go.

“Hmm,” the guy behind the counter scratched his chin, “I see a lot of hot guys come and go.”

“Listen, pal,” Dean’s eyes burned with suppressed anger and fear, “You’re talking about my boyfriend here. So I’m gonna need you to really think it through. Put that brain of your to use, _Ryan_ ,” he hissed at him, looking at his name tag.

Rose put a hand on his tense shoulder and turned to Ryan, “Listen, they were here a couple of days ago. You might remember them. They were with this guy, Oliver? Do you know him?”

“Oliver, you say?” Ryan looked her over and then thought some more. “Ah yes, I know Oli. Sadly I haven’t seen him since that day.” he decided.

Dean growled, “Useless.” He stomped off in a hurry to get to the next location.

Dan huffed, “Listen, sorry about that we really need to find him. We’re just visiting and we’re not used to this city.” He pleaded with his eyes, “Here’s my number so call if you see Cas or hear from Oliver.”

The bartender eyed Dan, “Sure.” He stated simply.

Dan nodded and turned around to see the matching confused faces of Rose, Alex and Hayley.  He quirked an eyebrow looking at the three girls.

Hayley opened her mouth to say something, but Rose clamped a hand over her mouth and whispered a harsh ‘Let it go’ before walking away and dragging Alex and Hayley with her.

Dan shook his head in confusion; _Girls are weird_.

......

It was a dark room he woke up to. His head was pounding and his back was stiff. Cas groaned and tried to look around. Dark, dark and- oh look, more dark.   
He sighed and squinted at the darkness, he could make out an outline of a door far in front of him.

He tried to remember what happened, but everything was fuzzy.   
Last thing he remembered was walking with Oliver.   
_Oliver, that prick._ Cas thought to himself angrily. He’d been leading him in the wrong direction. That’s what he gets for trusting people. He should’ve known better. ‘Never trust anyone,’ was one of his father’s mottos. Right along with, ‘Only check up on your son once a week.’

Castiel sighed again and rubbed his head where he had been hit. This was not the time to dwell in depressing thoughts. He had more serious things to worry about.

As on cue, the door creaked open and a ray of light pierced through the darkness. It took a few moments for his eyes to adjust, and then he saw a person standing in the doorway. Oliver. Of course.

Castiel squinted. Oliver was scrawny, but he had some muscles. Still, Castiel was pretty sure he could overthrow him and make it to the door in time to lock Oliver up. Then it should be easy enough to slip out of the building. But then two other figures appeared, blocking the light. In their hulking bodies, he recognized Stan and Lee, two of Oliver’s companions.

_No, bodyguards_. It all became clear to him.

“You must be wondering why you’re here,” Oliver drawled.

Castiel stood up, determined not to show them his hands were shaking. He put them in his pockets, where his phone was lying still. “I figured it out already,” he said, his voice hoarse.

“You’re one smart puppy,” Oliver’s teeth flashed in the darkness. Castiel felt a shiver go through him. Oliver was not a person to be taken lightly. Who knows what kind of business he was leading.

“You kidnapped me so you could ask for a ransom from my father, am I right?”

Oliver chuckled and the sound bounced off the walls, “Oh no, were we that obvious?”

“Did you start this...this business you have here - kidnapping people, stealing things - did you start it on your own or is it a family business?” Castiel asked, frantically going over his options to escape.

“I’m not a leader of our group, if that’s what you’re asking. But I will be, one day. For now, be happy you haven’t met the King yet.”Oliver said, turning on his heel, and left the room.

.......

Of course, leave it up to Charles to get them lost. Alex groaned angrily.

“Idiot, I told you we just had to stay on the freaking main road! The Charing Cross was our destination.” She looked around and frowned, “Not the ‘ _Leicester Square’,_ should have listened.” Alex crossed her arms and looked at her phone.   
Charles shrugged sheepishly and Rose smacked him upside the head.   
“We have to go down the street marked A400, we’ll know we’re there if we see big fountains and the National Gallery.” Alex headed up the road a few steps, frowned then turned and started walking the other way.   
The crew followed obediently.

Dean was fuming silently the whole time.  
Dan tried to comfort him but his comments were brushed off.  
Hayley offered him food but he refused.   
After that they just let him brood in silence until the next objective was reached.

......

The usual street performers were at Trafalgar square, the same ones that saw Dean with Cas and Oliver here the other day. Dean was going to question each one of them until he gets the information he needs.

He stepped up to the first guy and shooed away all the people standing around him. The guy was playing guitar and he was good at it, Dean might have stopped and admired it if he wasn’t on a mission.

“You were there the other day?” Dean asked.

The guy looked up with an impassive stare, “Been here for as long as I remember, man.”

“Do you recall seeing me with a guy about my height, dark messy hair, blue eyes?” Dean asked, his fists were clenched at his sides.

“I don’t remember,” The guy frowned and looked down to his guitar, and continued to pluck on the string with his skilled fingers.

Dean put his hand on the neck of the guitar, and the last note vibrated uncomfortably. “Listen buddy, I need you to try and think about it real hard. This is of life and death importance. We lost him earlier today and we’re trying to find him.”

The guy sighed and swatted Dean’s hand away, “I’ll tell you for £10.” He grinned, swiping his long hair out of his eyes.

Dean muttered and dug through his wallet; he grabbed the money and gave it to the guy.

“Nope, haven’t seen him.” The guy continued playing.

Dean growled and went to launch himself onto the guy but Alex and Charles grabbed him since they were the closest.   
Alex glared at the dude who seemed so pleased with himself.

“Guy, listen here.” She grabbed his shirt, “Him and the guy we lost. They just got together, and we just found out and it’s freaking adorable up until the part where we lose half of the ship. Don’t break the ship, man!” She shouted at him and the guy looked at her like she was crazy.

“I- I, I think they were with Oliver. Yeah, I’m pretty sure, but if you had been with them, I’d have definitely remembered. One does not forget a face so pretty that easily,” he said with a kind of a sad smile, looking somewhere over her shoulder. She felt blush creep onto her skin, but ignored the compliment and shook him, “Go on.”

“Anyway, that guy, Oliver is not good; I mean nobody who hangs out with Oliver is any good. That guy is real bad news, like holy bloody hell bad news. The guy reeks of bad with his beady eyes and feral grin, gives me the creeps every time. Can never look at him for longer than thirty seconds. I don’t know, maybe I have ADHD. Did anyone ever tell you you have the most amazing eyes?” The guy was rambling his mouth off.   
Alex slapped him lightly.

“Focus!” She said firmly.

“Right, all I’m saying- let’s hope that your guy didn’t run into Oliver on his own. You might want to look into that. I don’t know where he usually is but, I’m sure he’s up to something. He’s always up to something, and it’s never any good.” The guy said and looked to the side.

Alex released him and patted his cheek, her fingers lingering there just a moment too long, “Good.”

She turned around to see the stunned faces of the crew.

......

Dean just knew they should’ve sought Oliver out first. He _knew_ Castiel was there, and he didn’t know how he hadn’t realized it before. Now that someone pointed it out for him, it was as if it were obvious from the start. He felt like a child again, like when he used to practice maths with his father. His dad was helping him learn how to add, and Dean always felt stupid when he couldn’t figure out the solution when the sum was bigger than ten. Then his dad would tell him the solution, and explain how he got it, and Dean would feel as if he had known, _should_ have known all along.

That is how this whole situation was making him feel – vulnerable and at the verge of tears. He _would_ not allow Cas to be taken away from him just as he was starting to be happier than he could ever remember.

_I’m coming to get you, Castiel. And then, I’ll never let go of you again._

.....

The floor was terribly uncomfortable. Castiel turned to his side, so that he had his back against the wall, making a pillow of his hands. His head was still buzzing from both the hit and all the unanswered questions.

Who was this ‘King’ Oliver spoke of? Castiel’s best guess was that it was some guy running a human trafficking business, and he was probably in its headquarters. This seemed like something that would happen in a Dickens book. As much as he liked to read about it, Castiel didn’t relish the idea of being stuck in a novel about Victorian London. Most of all, he didn’t want to be the Damsel in Distress of the story. He hated feeling helpless. He’d learnt to stand on his own, and now, for the first time in a long while, he was depending on other people.

From what he gathered, the King was even worse than Oliver. And that was saying something. But he reckoned if they wanted Castiel dead, they would’ve done something about it already.

Castiel groaned. If the King doesn't kill him, his father will.


	17. Chapter 17

 “Where have you guys been?” A voice called for the crew that was silently bickering over where they should go next.

Hayley’s face lit up and she turned around, “Matt!”

Dan raised an eyebrow, “Dude, what are you doing here?” He inquired.

“Well, the whole school is here, we have half an hour break and I was trying to find Hayley.” Matt looked down at the head of orange hair that was leaned onto his arm.

“Well you found her,” Rose said awkwardly.

“Yeah, but where were you? I turned around and suddenly you were all gone.” Matt pouted sadly.

“We, uh, we were around.” Dean said and looked to the side, he didn’t like lying but enough people already knew that Cas was gone- he didn’t need the teachers finding out.

“So everyone’s here?” Charles asked.

“Yeah, we’re scattered all over Trafalgar- some are in the gallery some are in the nearby stores.” Matt pointed at the few people from their school around them.

“Guys, we should just call it a day.” Alex said quietly.

The crew threw her strange looks and Dean was about to protest but Rose butted in.

“I think she’s right, I mean this is all we can do without causing any distress. We should catch up with the teachers and go get a night’s sleep. We can go to that detective guy tomorrow.” She said, and it was a good plan.

“Guys what’s going on?” Matt looked at them with questioning eyes.

“Oh nothing, we just lost Cas.” Dan mumbled.

“What?!” Matt’s eyes were wide as he searched their faces for any answers.

“Shh, we didn’t lose him. We just, misplaced him.” Hayley motioned with her hand vaguely.

“So it’s settled then?” Alex asked and the crew nodded.

They headed over to where a group of people from their school was formed.

......

 Castiel opened his eyes, but it made no difference. It was still dark all around him, just like in his dreamless slumber. He didn’t even know he’d dozed off. When did he fall asleep? Two minutes ago? Two hours?

He had no way of telling the time, or his location. He sighed deeply, only to smell something. It was subtle, but still there. His senses had probably been dulled yesterday (was it yesterday?), so he didn’t feel it at first, but there was definitely something nasty in the air. Not knowing what to do with himself, he slowly got to his feet. If he was going to spend some time in here, he might as well get acquainted with his surroundings.

He started moving to his right, feeling with his arms, so that he doesn’t slam into something face-first. But he needn’t have worried, for there was absolutely nothing in his way. He got to the door, and searched for the handle. It was a lost battle, but he had to try – he tried to open the door, and failed miserably.

He kept going, circling the small room. In the next corner, he stepped onto something. He crouched to inspect what it was. He took a handful of what felt like hay and brought it to his nose. He almost gagged from the smell. At least he discovered the source of it.

Did they really expect him to relieve himself there, as if he were an animal? He scrunched up his nose in disgust. 

He made his way back to where he started, opposite the door. He sank down and frowned. They had taken his freedom, his free will, and now they’re going to take away his pride, too.

His belly rumbled in protest.

He tried to fight the hunger he felt but to no avail. His stomach kept rumbling, he looked back to that corner.  
How many people have they brought here? Was this something new or did they do it more often? Judging by the way Oliver weaselled his way into his life, he had had some practice. He felt an urge to curl up and cry, but he would absolutely not.   
Instead he thought of his friends, which was a complete mistake when a wave of guilt washed over him. His friends, they must have noticed he was gone already.   
They probably did do something stupid and now they’re searching for him.

  
What if something happens to them? What if something happens to _Dean_?  
He clutched at his stomach as he felt the bile rise up in his throat.   
He was so screwed.

......

“Sam, I hope you didn’t say anything to the teacher.” Dean warned as he approached his younger brother.

Sam rolled his eyes, “Oh please. This is your mess, I want nothing to do with it.”

“Good,” Dean gave him a tight lipped smile and patted him on the back a little stronger than necessary.

“Dean don’t be mean to your brother,” Hayley warned and Dean stuck out his tongue at her.

Charles clipped him behind the ear, “That’s no way to treat a lady.”

Alex scoffed, “Sure, you would know.”

“I’m not complaining,” Rose muttered.

“Guys, we’re moving.” Dan said as he saw the row of people leave Trafalgar square and head for the Piccadilly Circus.

.......

“I just can’t believe it’s not a circus,” Charles muttered and looked around.

Rose facepalmed silently, “No it’s not a circus, it’s just a roundabout.” She proceeded to explain the history that was behind the name.   
Charles nodded like he was paying attention.

Alex and Dan were arguing whether they can make it to the Drop Dead Clothing Store today or some other time.

Matt and Hayley were nowhere to be seen.

It was almost like everything was normal, except that he was missing his better half. Dean sighed sadly and pulled out his phone to try and call Cas again.

.......

Later that evening, Charles was sweating in front of the door to Crowley and Naomi’s house. They’d come up with an excuse for Cas’s absence, but it was a lame one, and everyone knew it.

He rang the doorbell.

Meg was the one who swung the heavy mahogany door open. She gave Charles a look that lasted a whole second, before looking over his shoulder, her eyes searching for Cas. Her face fell.

“Where’s your friend?” she asked, stepping aside to let him in.

The moment of truth had come.

Charles took a deep breath, “He’s staying with Dean tonight. You know,” he turned to look at her, “His boyfriend.” He watched the realization in her eyes, and couldn’t help feeling a little sorry.

“Seriously? He’s gay? Dear Lord, why are all the hot guys either taken or gay?!” Meg stormed off into her room and shut the door loudly.

That went well.

He passed through the living room to say hi to Mr. Masters and his wife. They were both sitting there, Naomi clutching her wine glass. They seemed to be in the middle of a heated exchange. Charles didn’t want to eavesdrop; he’d had enough drama for one day. He cleared his throat, and the adults jumped up a little. Crowley pulled his lips in a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

“Oh, hello, there. I’m glad to see you’ve made it home. Did you have fun today?”

“Tons of fun,” Charles attempted to smile back, “We’ve been all around London, and it was really fascinating. I was especially amazed by the Piccadilly Circus.” That at least wasn’t a lie. He beamed at them, and then gulped, remembering the task he’d been given, “I hope it’s okay if Castiel stays over with Dean tonight? If that’s not a problem?”

He noticed a look pass between the two.

“Considering I don’t see him here, he’s probably gone already, right?” Crowley said. “So it wouldn’t make a difference if we objected anyway.”

Naomi hushed him and turned to Charles, “Of course it’s alright. You kids should have fun. You’re staying here, though? Do you want me to make you something to eat?”

“No, thank you, we had dinner earlier. But thank you for...” Crowley’s ringtone cut off the rest of Charles’s sentence. Crowley excused himself and left the room.

“I think I’ll just go to bed now. It’s been a long day today,” Charles said and bid Naomi good night.

In his room, he slumped to the bed and let out a long breath. He didn’t realize how tense he was. He went to take a quick shower, brushed his teeth and then crawled into his bed. Half asleep, he heard the front door open and close. That phone Crowley received must have been important, if it made him go out in the middle of the night.

......

After an uncertain amount of time, Castiel heard the lock on the door unlock. The hinges on the old door creaked in protest as the door opens.   
A man in a suit was standing there; the light from the hallway behind the door was obstructing Cas’s view since the light fell inwards.   
He squinted at the man.

“Mr. Masters?” He heard his own voice, laced with disbelief.    
He wanted to get up, to run towards the man and kiss the ground he walks on. He’s saved.   
“Oh thank God, I thought I was going to die!” He groaned, and tried to slide up the wall.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Castiel.” The man said coldly and didn’t attempt to move from the door.

“Sir? What is happening? You are here to save me, aren’t you?” Cas was shaking from the effort of not crying.

The skinny figure of Oliver appeared next to the man.   
“What’d I tell you, chatty as ever,” Oliver grinned at him sharply.

“He looks weak, have you been feeding him?” Crowley asked and turned to look at Oliver.

“Mr. Masters, what are you doing? Don’t talk to Oliver, he’s evil!” Cas shouted, knowing how childish he sounded.

Oliver released a hysterical laugh, “Oh, that’s sweet. Cas, meet the King.” He pointed to Crowley and just like that, all Castiel’s hope died.


	18. Chapter 18

They left him soon after and Castiel listened to the receding sound of their footsteps. The echo confirmed his suspicion that he was somewhere underground. _Great, just great_ , he thought. When he saw Crowley, he’d felt a flicker of hope, but the man extinguished it completely.

Oliver had left with a promise of food later today, but judging by the vicious look in his eyes, Castiel doubted he can count on eating any time soon.

He was locked up in a tiny dark room that was almost as dark as the abyss that was opening somewhere inside him. The pit in his soul was feeding on his desperation and anger. Worst of all, he felt betrayed and completely useless.

Locked up like a wild animal, he was starting to feel like one.

He closed his eyes and tried to imagine what it would be like to fly. In his dreams, he was soaring above the skies, far from treachery and greed that filled this world.

......

By the time Dan untangled from his covers, Dean was already sitting on an already made bed, impatiently tapping his foot.

“Dude, did you even sleep last night?” Dan mumbled while making his way to the bathroom.

“Of course I did. Come on, hurry up, we’re going to be late,” Dean urged him on. Dan groaned something incoherent and went for the shower. The cold water made him feel better and cleared his head. The water was almost as cold as the look Alex gave him the other day, when he dared to open his mouth and say something.

He didn’t get it. Why was Alex suddenly acting so weird? They still talked and everything seemed normal, but they both knew it wasn’t. She was putting a distance between them, and deep down, he thought he knew the reason – he just didn’t want to admit it. But he knew he would have to make a choice soon. It wasn’t fair to either Alex or Tessa. Dan sighed and turned off the water.

He emerged from the shower and found Dean on the same spot as before. He had dark circles around his eyes. Dan sighed again. How did they get into so much trouble?

“Come on, big guy. Let’s go get you your boyfriend back.”

......

Surprisingly Alex was already up when Rose opened her eyes.   
She was sitting on her bed tapping away on her tablet.

“Well, there’s a surprise,” Rose mumbled and ran a hand through her hair, messing it up even more.

“You look lovely,” Alex said- not really looking at Rose.

“Hmpf,” Rose grumbled and dug around her bag for a hairbrush. “What are you doing anyway?”

“Researching this Detective dude.” Alex said and finally looked at rose.

Rose frowned, “Did you even sleep?”

“Of course I did, it’s me. I never miss a good night’s sleep.” Alex smiled lightly and went back to the screen tapping.

“So what about this detective dude?” Rose asked as she migrated to Alex’s bed to see the screen.

“Well apparently he has helped solve many cases all around London and the UK, he’s not an official detective but he’s a junior consultant.” Alex mumbled and read over a case file that included an elephant in a room.   
“If these things are true, this should be a piece of cake for him.” She looked at Rose.

Rose nodded, “Make a path plan for the address, we’re going soon.”

......

Charles woke up to an empty room, save for him of course. He sighed; he had hoped just a little that Cas would magically return during that night. But, no such luck.

He reluctantly got dressed and padded down the stairs where the family was already gathered. Everyone in their own world.   
Meg was staring intently at her phone while Naomi picked at her food and Crowley hid behind his newspaper.   
Charles sighed again; this is going to be awkward.

“Good morning,” He announced his arrival. He got a grunt from Meg and a quiet ‘Morning’ from the couple.

Naomi seemed to snap out of her daze and smiled brightly at him, “How did you sleep, dear?”

Charles smiled a little, “Good, thanks for asking m’am.”

“Where are you children going today?” Crowley asked, seemingly uninterested in the answer.

“Oh, I don’t know. Cas has the trip plan and he’s not here.” Charles shrugged.

“Oh well, I’m sure you’ll have fun.” Naomi beamed.

 _Yeah, sure we will. Fun times looking for our missing classmate-_ Charles thought sadly.

......

With her nose stuck in her tablet, Alex barely registered when they reached the meeting point. She followed Rose onto the bus, memorizing the way to 221B Baker Street. They were supposed to go to National History Museum and Science Museum. Baker Street is fairly close to those, so they should be able to make it back in time, before anyone notices they’re missing. If they don’t make it, they can always find their own way to the Tower of London, which was the next sightseeing spot in their trip plan.

“So, what’s the plan?” Charles peeked at them from his seat. Alex was all too-aware of the gaping spot next to him, where Castiel should have been.

“We will get free time to explore the museums on our own. While everyone is busy, we will go meet this guy Sherlock. He replied to my message and said he is free today. He also warned me that he doesn’t take just any case. All in all, he sounded kind of douche-y, but we’ll see.”

“At this point, he’s our only hope, so we’re going to have to deal with it,” Charles nodded.

“Hey, at least we won’t have to look at dusty old stuff in the museums, eh?” Dan piped in from his seat behind Charles.

Alex swallowed down her anger. “I was actually looking forward to see that dusty old stuff,” she said and turned to the front. She felt Rose looking at her, but she was in no mood to explain herself. Rather, she put in her earphones and closed her eyes, hoping to steal a few more minutes of sleep.

......

Dean wasn’t paying any attention to Dan’s attempts to cheer him up. He supposed it was a little mean to his friend, but he couldn’t make himself smile. He didn’t remember the last time he smiled. He watched the buildings fly past their bus. It was strangely calming. But then, even that was taken from him – due to the morning rush, the bus slowed down to a pace. People walked by them, most of them carrying umbrellas. The weather report said it might rain today, but even without that warning, you never knew when it would rain here in London. This _weather is freaking bipolar_ , Dean thought.

“Dean,” Dan startled him. “We’re here.”

Dean nodded in acknowledgment and waited patiently for people to pass before he rushed out of the bus.   
The crew gathered, and waited for the professors to give their little speech before they quietly separated themselves from the rest.

They made it past the Science Museum and then stopped.

“Alex, lead the way.” Dean looked at her strictly.

“Okay, we’ll have to cut it through Hyde Park. We go down Exhibition Rd till we see, well, a park. We follow through it on this path, cross over a bridge pass a snack gallery and some building complex and the rest I’ll tell you when we get out of the park.” She rambled and started walking.

“How long will it take us?” Dean asked.

“Well, if Google Maps is to trust- around 48 minutes.” Alex hummed.

“We should hurry then,” Charles said and rushed past her.

“Don’t rush, you idiot! We know what happened the last time you took the lead.” Hayley shouted at him.

Charles flinched and fell back into step with Alex who was glaring at him.

“Who put Alex in charge anyway?” he asked.

“Nobody, but since we’re doing great so far- she stays in charge.” Rose defended.

“Fine,” Charles crossed his arms and pouted.

“You’re such a kid,” Hayley smacked him upside the head.

“Don’t hid him, he’s dumb enough already,” Dan added with a smirk.

Alex rolled her eyes and ignored the not-so-silent bickering. She noticed Dean to her right. He had his head down and his shoulders slumped.   
She bumped him with her elbow.

Dean looked at her with little to no emotion on his face.

She smiled reassuringly, “We’ll get him Dean, don’t worry. I’m not just saying this because I hope; I’m saying this because I know it. We’re not leaving London without him. We’re a persistent bunch of bright minds with access to technology and other things that can help. We’re going to save him if it’s the last thing we do.” She stated firmly.

Dean looked at her for a moment then nodded and smiled, “You’re right. People have gone by with less. We’re going to find him, even if we do need some help in doing it.”

Alex chuckled, “That’s the spirit.”   

......

The black door looked freshly polished and ominous. Dean stared at them.

“You sure this is the right address?” he asked Alex, moving his eyes up the building.

“Positive,” Alex said, slightly out of breath. Their precious time was running out and they made extra effort to hurry up the last few streets.

Dean felt someone’s eyes on him, but saw no one at the windows. He turned his gaze back to the door. It was now or never. He knocked twice and waited. At first, they heard nothing, and then there was shuffling. The door opened to reveal a middle-aged lady in an apron. He supposed this wasn’t Sherlock.

“Hello, what can I do for you?” she said. Her voice reminded him of tea and Christmas sweaters.

“Hello, we were just wondering is Sherlock home?” Dean tried to sound casual.

“Of course,” she looked a tad surprised, and then turned to the stairs and yelled, “Sherlock! Some of your friends are here to see you!” No one answered her.

“That means you can go up now,” she smiled at them and led them upstairs, bombarding them with questions such as “Would you like some tea? Maybe biscuits?” They all politely refused, although Dean felt like he could eat some of those biscuits she mentioned. But his stomach was in a permanent knot. He got distracted thinking about food and almost bumped into the lady who suddenly came to a halt in front of another door.

She briefly knocked and pushed it open, then turned on her heel and dashed off, saying, “I’m going to get the biscuits.”

Dan whispered, “She just left us here. On _his_ mercy,” he pointed through the door – there was a sofa facing the window, and a mop of dark unruly hair could be seen.

“What are you waiting for?” a voice reached them. It was deeper than expected; for some reason Dean was imaging a kid with a magnifying glass. The person inside that room was no joke, he could sense it.

 _Don’t be such a coward_ , he scolded himself and took a step into the room.

Since there were a lot of them, only Dean, Alex and Rose entered.

“You are the one that contacted me earlier I presume.” The guy said- not even bothering to get up.

“Actually that would be me,” Alex said.

“It’s all the same, you’re a group does it really matter which one of you called? No, didn’t think so.” He said and decided to grace them with the view of him standing up.

The guy was tall, skinny with dark curly hair and extremely prominent cheekbones. His eyes were blue but it looked like it wasn’t permanent, like they were rainbow coloured up close. At least in Alex’s opinion.

“You’re Sherlock?” Rose asked.

“That seems to surprise you.” He looked at her curiously.

She blushed under the attention, “Yeah, I think we were expecting someone older.”

“How old are you anyway,” Dean asked- reacquiring his ability to speak.

“Is that really important? I guess I can tell you if it makes you feel better, I’m 19.” Sherlock said and clasped his hands behind him. “So, the case- do you have any information I should know about that you have not mentioned online.”

“I guess, I didn’t mention Oliver.” Alex said, “Dean and Cas met him the other day. Average height, dark hair-”

“Covered in tattoos, beady eyes always looks like he’s up to no good? Yes, I know Oliver. You sure do know how to pick your company.” Sherlock shook his head like he was disappointed.

“I’ve been told,” Dean muttered.

“Fine, I’ll take the case.”  


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while  
> oops

“Well, I guess that happened?” Rose stated questioningly.

“Told you he seems like a twat,” Alex mumbled, “Albeit a hot one.” She added and Rose nodded in agreement.

“So, what’s up?” Hayley piped up from where she was nestled under Matt’s arm.

“He’s gonna help, but I don’t know how much we can trust him.” Dean said grumpily as the merry band of sad teens exited the building.

“What now?” Charles asked. The morning was fairly cold; he shivered a little pulling Rose closer to him. Rose blushed a crimson shade and decided to ignore his advances.

“Best option is to wait for him to contact us, other than that we can go back to where the school group is. We have little time to waste, they leave in 40 minutes.” Alex said simply and turned to walk down the road.

They chatted idly amongst themselves- Rose and Alex were making Titan jokes due to the steam coming out of Charles’s mouth as he talked, Matt was listening to Hayley hum quietly, and Dan was skipping around, observing the streets of London with eyes like saucers. At that moment, it felt like they were just teens having fun on a school trip, like they were _normal_. But then Rose’s eyes fell on Dean, who continued to glare at the ground. The reality was harsh and yet again Rose felt the nagging feeling in her stomach. It was telling her to abort everything and call the police while the news were still fresh but she decided to trust her friends on this. They were getting close to finding Castiel, she could feel it.  

\-----

Sherlock flopped back into his sofa. He brought his fingertips to his lips and closed his eyes. His breathing was even and he didn’t seem upset by the turn of events at all. He had to admit, though, that finding Oliver is also tangled in this mess was an unpleasant discovery. Oliver was one of those petty criminals that you could use having as your eyes and ears, but if he was getting involved in something as serious as kidnapping, Sherlock would have to put him behind the bars.

There was a light knock on the door. Sherlock’s eyes snapped open. “Come in!” He did his best to keep the irritation out of his voice, but it wasn’t enough.

“Don’t sound so annoyed, Sherlock, I’m only bringing you some tea and biscuits for you and your…” Mrs. Hudson looked the empty room, “They’re gone already? What a pity.” She lowered her eyes to the plate and sighed. Sherlock never was very good at making friends.

Sherlock’s eyes softened. He knew exactly what his landlady was thinking. It didn’t particularly bother him that he didn’t have many friends, but Mrs. Hudson was sad for him and he didn’t want her to feel sorry for him. She had enough troubles as it was. “Forget the biscuits, Mrs. Hudson. We have more important things to do.”

He whipped out his cell and tapped the touch screen a couple of times.   
He pressed the call button below the name Watson.

\-----

The phone in John’s pocket was vibrating insistently. Every now and then it would stop and then after a few moments starts again.  
Suddenly the ringing stopped.  
John sighed with relief; he ran a hand through his short hair and resumed taking notes.

Approximately a minute later, there was a static noise. The speakers to the PA system cracked and let out a whining sound.

“Would John Watson please report to the principal’s office, there is a mister Sherlock Holmes here calling for you.” The lady announced.

John groaned loudly as the class started to laugh.

The professor shot him a look, “Well?”

John quickly shoved all of his things into his backpack and scurried towards the door.  
“I’m so sorry sir!” He called over his shoulder as he ran out the door and down the hallway.

The principal shook his head disapprovingly as John picked up the phone.  
 “Sherlock are you crazy? I’m in school; you can’t just call me when convenient! Unlike you I have to work hard to finish my edu-”

Sherlock shushed him, “We’ve got a case, John. Come pick me up, we need to go.”

“What do you mean pick you up, I still have classes!” John hissed out.

“John this is not up for debate, be here in 15 minutes.”

John was about to say something, maybe curse, but then the line went dead.  
He pinched the bridge of his nose.

“I am so very extremely sorry, Sir.” John looked at the principal with pleading eyes.

The principal made a disapproving sound, “You are free to go, Watson. Just don’t make a habit out of this!” He warned.

“Of course not, sir!” John hurried out of the office with a grateful smile.  

\-----

The group made it back to the meeting point in front of the Natural History Museum just in time. The tall figure of Professor Michael could already be seen. He was watching over the students who were slowly gathering around, and taking note of the ones that were still missing. He narrowed his eyes when he saw the group arriving from a completely wrong direction, but he decided not to ask any questions. As long as they were alive and well, he didn’t want to know anything. Not for the first time in the last couple of days, he wished Professor Inja were with him now.

He cleared his throat and glanced at his watch. They were already running a few minutes late. The bus that was waiting for them was not exactly blocking the traffic, but it must have been a nuisance to other drivers. Michael ushered the students to the bus, his fellow professor Nick not being of much help. Occasionally he’d say something encouraging, like “Move it, amigo.”

Once safely in the bus, Dan sighed in relief.  
“How long do you think will it take them to notice Castiel is missing?” Dean asked him quietly. “Damn, my mum would flip out if she knew they don’t even count us at the end of the day to see if anyone’s missing,” he proceeded, chuckling sadly.  
Dan nodded in agreement and rubbed his neck, feeling the tense knots in it. He tried to put up a happy façade earlier, but he was just so tired. This whole business with kidnapping, plus the love triangle drama thingy… He did not sign up for this. And now they were on the way to the London Tower, to see more dusty old things. The drive should take at least half an hour, or so they were informed. _Plenty of time to nap_ , he concluded.

\-----

“Why are we stopping, I don’t remember Tower of London looking like this.” Dan protested as he was woken from his nap.

“We’re taking a boat there, besides we’re seeing Greenwich first” Replied the person next to him. Who was, surprisingly, Alex.

Dan squinted and rubbed at his eyes, “Either Dean got a lot prettier in the last half an hour or I missed out on something.” He said, not really thinking about what he was saying.

Alex gaped at him, he gaped back.

She blushed bright red and looked away, “Dean moved over to sit where Charles was because Charles wanted to cuddle with Rose and I’m here because Dean wanted to stretch out on two seats.” She clarified.

Dan nodded and closed his mouth. He stretched as far as he could, his shirt riding up on his stomach.  
He could have sworn he heard a sound coming from next to him, but that would be absurd considering _Alex_ was the one sitting next to him.  
He sighed; she must really hate his guts by now.

\-----

Once they were done sightseeing Greenwich, they made their way down to the shore of the Thames to the Greenwich Pier.

They were separated into pairs to board the fairy two by two.  
Alex clutched Dan’s arm as soon as they stepped onto the unstable wooden catwalk that lead to the boat.

“You okay there?” Dan asked, looking at the glaring girl with confusion.

“Dandy,” She replied sarcastically.

“Come on you’ll be safe,” He gave her a reassuring smile and pulled her forward to the boat.

Soon they were all seated and the thing started moving.

Alex found herself sitting between Dean and Dan, not really paying attention to Dan- despite the earlier actions.

“These old piers look so depressing,” Dean murmured. “Makes me think of the middle ages and dead people.”

“I think they’re awesome, they remind me of movies. They have a certain artistic value to them, with the moss and the brown green combination.” Alex said as she made a frame with her hands.

Rose passed the camera down to Charles to pass it to Alex seeing as her friend had discovered something she liked.

“I bet we’ll get like twenty photos of moss green old stuff when we get back.” She said with a light chuckle.

“But at least they will be excellent photos of moss green old stuff!” Charles said enthusiastically, trusting Alex’s art skills.

Alex snapped a couple of photos of Dean, whose eyes matched the damn Thames water.  
A couple of pictures of Rose and Charles being all cuddly and a photo of Dan.

As they were passing the old industrial section where the back doors of the buildings lead to nonexistent boardwalks she zoomed in to take a picture of the Tardis blue door.

“These old buildings are huge,” Dean said, voicing Alex’s thoughts. “They must be great for storing stuff,” He mused.

Alex looked away from the camera, then looked at Dan who was staring at her with the same expression.

“You don’t think?” She asked.

“Possible but there are too many,” Dan shook his head.

“You two care to fill me in?” Dean leaned over Alex’s shoulder.

“Well, it’s a possibility but- we can’t know for sure. Literally there’s no telling for sure.” Alex frowned.

“What’s a possibility?” Dean growled.

“There’s a low chance that Cas is being held in one of the old abandoned buildings near the water. I remember someone mentioning something about Oliver hanging out at the docks a lot.” Dan said calmly.

“Yeah, but there are way too many buildings. It’s not like we’ll magically get lucky and pick the right building.” Alex said pessimistically.

“She’s got a point,” Rose butted in, “But that’s why we hired a professional, I think. We can help him by pointing this thing out. Unless he already knows, being a genius and all.”

“I’ll text him once we’re somewhere where there is less chance I’ll drop my phone into the water.” Alex scrunched up her nose at the thought of losing her precious phone.

Dean nodded and for once, he thought they had an actual chance to find Cas without getting the authorities involved.   


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Its been over a year, huh

They finally reached their destination. They made their way off the boat, with Tower Bridge looming over them. Dean shivered unintentionally at the sight. It was one of the best known landmarks of London and it has been his wish to visit it for a long time, to see it in person. And now he was here and he couldn’t fully enjoy it because the love of his life was missing.

 _Did I just call Cas my love? Whoa._ Dean blushed at his own thoughts. Okay, maybe he was being a bit melodramatic with that “love of his life” thing. Love. He couldn’t stop repeating the word.

“Are you done with fantasising about your boyfriend, Dean?” Charles chuckled at him, “Aw, man, I was right!” He exclaimed when he noticed Dean’s blush spread down to his neck.

“Come on, both of you, we have things to do, places to go,” Rose pulled them both by the hand and dragged closer to the front of the line. They were about to enter the Tower of London and Rose, being a bit of a history nut, was super-excited. Who wouldn’t be, with all the authentic buildings and shiny weaponry that the fort had to offer? Dan wasn’t as enthusiastic, but Alex made up for it. She was furiously taking pictures of everything, especially the bridge.

They waited in line a couple of minutes. Rose kept getting on her tip-toes to get a better look at everything. Finally they were inside the stone walls and Dean whistled in appreciation. Charles nodded, “This Tower of London is really...towering.”

Rose let out a hearty chuckle and Alex snorted at the bad pun. “Lol,” She said.

They climbed up the stairs leading to the White Tower

.

They ended up waiting in line again, but at least this one was moving faster and they got the chance to observe the inner yard from a higher altitude. Dan pointed out the famous ravens of the Tower, “Look, they’re so big and black!” He said it loud enough for many people around them to hear and everyone gave him looks.

Alex smirked at him, “So you like them big and black, eh?” Dan contemplated jumping off the staircase and becoming raven food.  Unfortunately they were carried by the flow of people into the White Tower, where they were faced with polished armours and various weapons, from spears to swords and maces. Most were displayed in the cases, but some (or maybe they were replicas?) were positioned on the wall so that they can get a closer inspection.

Charles pulled them along to one such display case that held spear-like weapons. He took one and tried to lift it, it was heavier than it looked but he still managed.

“Hey Rose, like my spear?” He wiggled his eyebrows at the poor blushing girl. Rose punched his shoulder and glared at him. Her glare was sharper than the spear the young lad was holding.

“At least you’re good at handling wood,” Dan threw in casually. Alex choked on air and the teen patted her back.

Rose looked over to where Dean was standing; he was staring at one of the shiny knight armours in a glass display case. She quietly motioned for the guys and Alex to follow her towards the sad boy.

“We should get you one of those, after all- you _are_ gonna be his knight in shining armour pretty soon.” Rose placed a comforting hand on his shoulder and grinned.

Dean snapped his head to look at her, he smiled briefly. His friends really were trying their best to make him feel better- and he appreciated it, don’t get him wrong, but he was a pessimist. Realistically looking at the situation, their chances were close to none, even with the teen detective on their side. He sighed tiredly, he had barely gotten any sleep whatsoever in the last couple of days- his mind kept making up worst possible scenarios and he just missed Cas so much.

“Come on Dean, we can go see the torture chamber next. Bet that’ll make you feel better!” Charles smiled at him reassuringly. Dean wiped at his eyes that had gotten a little sweaty.

\------

They exited the tower after they passed through it and thoroughly examined the gift shop. Alex was now in possession of a skull they named Gaylord which everybody took a liking to; even Dean seemed to cheer up as Alex stepped up on a railing and quoted Hamlet passionately.

They turned to follow their classmates as the crowd started to move. They excitedly trudged along with the people until they were passing across the Tower Bridge.

Rose squeaked, “I can’t believe I’m touching the actual London Bridge!” She ran her hand across the metal construction.

“It’s even more amazing in person!” Charles shared her enthusiasm. 

The Professors in charge led them along a pier for what seemed like forever. By the end of the walk the teens were exhausted and just wanted to go home.

“Dude, look!” Alex half jumped onto Rose’s back and pointed into the distance. “Millennium Bridge!”

“Oh my god, I can’t!” Rose whined and dramatically squeezed her cheeks with her hands.

“What’s so great about another bridge?” Dan asked, yawning. The two whining fangirls sent him equally terrifying glares. “What?” He asked innocently. 

“Dude, from Harry Potter, even I know that...” Charles said with a raised eyebrow.

“Oh, oooh, _that_ bridge. Jesus, don’t kill me- I don’t know every bridge by name.” Dan crossed his arms and pouted. “What are we doing here anyways?” He asked and looked around.

“Globe Theatre, but we’re not getting to see the inside of it.” Rose said with a wishful sigh.

“That’s a shame; I always wanted to see it up close.” Charles nodded.

“Really? I had no idea you were into the whole business.” Alex smirked at his flush.

“Well, you know I’ve always wanted to be an actor and I just think the theatre scene is a nice place to start and all...” Charles trailed off and as he did he silently turned around and left the crew.

“You made him uncomfortable, shame on you.” Rose scolded.

“I just asked!” Alex pouted, it really wasn’t her fault, she was genuinely interested in what the dufus had to say- she just has a tendency to come off as and asshole sometimes. She sighed and went to apologise to the teen.

\------

Last night, Castiel had gone to sleep while it was dark and smelly. He woke up, and it was still dark and smelly. Castiel sighed. He had no idea what time of the day it was and he had nothing to do. He was scared, dirty, hungry, sore and overall miserable. He’d definitely seen better days.

He silently swore. Sometimes he really wished he came from a normal family. Screw the family company. He’d be happy with a loving father instead. He immediately scolded himself. Of course his father loved him. But he royally sucked at showing it. Especially after his wife died.

Castiel sighed deeply and decided not to depress himself any further. He was in a shitty mood as it was. He hadn’t eaten in two days. Oliver gave him a glass of water and that was it. He would slay someone for a burger right now. Juicy, yet crispy, rich smelling burger that would fulfil all his needs.

He missed Dean, he missed his friends and he missed food. But Dean was the thing preoccupying his mind currently. His warm smile, his big green eyes and that soft spiky hair.

He realized his train of thoughts took him to the Land of Despair again. Wrong, everything was wrong. His own psyche was working against him.

He tried to think of a way to escape. He mentally ran over things that were at his disposal: hay, hay, smelly hay... He rummaged through his jacket to find anything useful and then there it was. In his pocket, just like that. He almost laughed out loud. His phone.

How did they not immediately search for it? As far as he knew, he could still make emergency calls, even if the SIM card is gone. He quickly put the battery in and started the cell. The screen lit up and the flicker of hope in his chest soared into an open fire. He started to sweat in anticipation. His hands were shaking. And then, just as quickly as it lit up, the phone went off again. But not before a message flashed over the screen: BATTERY LOW, it said.

Castiel screamed and threw his phone on the ground. It fell on the hay, limp. _I’m going to rot in here_ , he thought.

\------

They started making their way back, led by their Professors yet again. They’ve been at it for a while and they didn’t seem to have made much progress. It was even more excruciating than when they were going towards the theatre. Going back was even worse. There was no warm bed at the end of the journey. Just a stuffy bus where they’d have to spend another hour or so. Stupid rush hour. Next to Rose, Charles sighed. “I think we’re lost,” he whispered to her.

She didn’t want to admit that the same thought occurred to her just a few moments ago. Professors Michael and Nick kind of looked puzzled. They spent 3 minutes on a crossroads, contemplating what next.

Instead of answering him, she said, “I didn’t know you were into acting.”

He gave her a half-smile, “There are many things you don’t know about me.”

“Oh, really?” she laughed. “Like what, for example?”

“How much I like you,” he said and gave her a quick peck on the lips, much like she did to him at the Singers’ house. Her heart did a flip. The kiss was nice but it wasn’t enough. Before Charles could run away, she pulled him in for a proper kiss, right there, in the middle of the London rush hour, in front of all their classmates.

\------

Dean watched the two of them get it on. They looked like they didn’t have a care in the world. He was truly happy for them, he was. If anything, he was jealous. He missed Cas so much, it was gnawing at his stomach, like a demon unleashed from Hell. He averted his eyes from the couple and looked at Alex and Dan. They were bickering light-heartedly, probably about what was the best season of one of their many shows they both watched. Dean felt so alone. He wished the professors would just start moving again. He couldn’t stand doing nothing. He felt so helpless.

\------

“Gah! John! You’re 10 minutes late!” Sherlock screamed at him when he finally arrived.

“You try moving through London in the middle of rush hour!” John yelled back.

“Whatever, let’s get a move on, we’ve already wasted 10 minutes.” Sherlock pocketed his phone and angrily stomped down the street.

John rolled his eyes at the dramatic display and jogged after him. “Where are we even going?” He asked once he caught up to the taller teen.

“We’re going to find Oliver and put an end to this!” Sherlock said firmly.

“What Oliver? Put an end to what? You haven’t told me anything, bloody hell!” John stopped him by pulling his sleeve.

“John get with the times, we got a new case. A teen has been kidnapped and I think Oliver, _the_ Oliver, the one down from the bloody docks is involved and I doubt that he is working alone. He wouldn’t have the mental capacity to do so even if he wanted. Also considering that the subject of the kidnapping is Castiel Roman of Roman Enterprises there might also be some dirty work involved.” Sherlock spoke quickly as he moved, flailing his arms around animatedly.

John stared at him with squinted eyes, “You think it’s that bad?”

“It could potentially be my greatest case, and I have worked on some great ones.” Sherlock grinned. 

“ _Your?_ ” John asked incredulously.

“Fine, _our._ ” Sherlock rolled his eyes.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We suck at getting the chapters out  
> Not like anybody reads this?

Sherlock's phone vibrated and he glanced at it to see who was bothering. The phone said there was one new message from ‘Oliver – new case’. Remembering the short, black-haired girl, Sherlock contemplated renaming the contact to her actual name, but it wasn’t really important. He opened the message.

_We think that Oliver might be hiding Cas at one of the abandoned buildings on the docks by the Thames. Just a speculation, but it might be worth a try, do check it out at your earliest convenience._

He almost snorted at the overly polite writing style. Besides, he already knew that’s where Oliver hangs out. However, there were many possible hideouts there. They needed more clues. He could start out by scanning the territory. He would need back-up, though. His eyes moved to John – yes, John would suffice for now.

“Would you like to take a walk with me?” he asked him sweetly.

John eyed him suspiciously, “Where are we going?”

“Oh, here and there. It’s a beautiful afternoon. We should go to the river. A breath of fresh air and what not,” Sherlock waved his hand, already underway.

\-----

Alex put away her phone, giving up on the hope that Sherlock would text her back. Even a mere ‘ _k tnx’_ from him would be acceptable. But no, he just ignored her. After she put so much effort in her message.

She sighed and sank deeper into her bus seat.

“The pompous ass not replying yet?” Dean asked gruffly.

She shook her head and pulled out her tablet, “Nope, we just have to wait and see.”

“I don’t like waiting,” Dean grumbled and looked out the window. The sun was slowly setting; it would be night time soon. He could only hope that Cas was fine and that he wasn’t dead in a ditch somewhere. He couldn’t help but feel that it was all his fault, even though he consciously knew that he couldn’t have done anything. If only he had watched over Cas better, but then again Cas is a strong person, he can take care of himself.

Dean glared daggers at the passing cars and buildings. Alex was concerned for him and for Cas, fortunately she had faith in this _junior detective consultant S.H._ guy. 

\------

“Sherlock! Wait a bloody minute, why are we at the shittiest part of the docks?” John ran his hands through his hair. Being friends with Sherlock was frustrating sometimes.

“I told you we were going for a walk near the river!” Sherlock grinned like it was the happiest day of his life.

“Yeah, but I didn’t think you meant this part of the town!” John said and kicked something that looked suspiciously like a dead rat. He shivered and gagged silently. “Why am _I_ even here?”

“Because I needed back-up, and someone to keep me company so I don’t get bored during surveillance.” Sherlock stated in a calm voice.

“So we’re not just taking a walk?” John accused with a hand on his hip.

“We’re walking, aren’t we?” Sherlock smiled cheekily.

“Bloody hell,” John muttered and continued walking, only to be abruptly stopped by Sherlock himself. To be precise, it was Sherlock’s arm smashing into John’s chest that made him stop in his tracks. “What now?”

“Shhh,” Sherlock shushed him and pointed towards a figure in the distance. “See that?”

“What of it? Some bloke is taking a walk. That’s allowed,” John said, squinting to see the figure better. The person was male, by the looks of it.

“Please,” Sherlock rolled his eyes, “No one in their right minds would go for a walk in this neighbourhood.”

“Sherlock, _we_ are taking a walk in this neighbourhood!” John exclaimed, chagrined.

“That’s different. Come on, we need to go on. I can’t make out anything about him from this distance.”

They tried to look inconspicuous and hurried after the mystery man. The man appeared relaxed, but his steps were purposeful. He made a turn to the right and Sherlock and John ran to the corner. When they got there, he was nowhere to be seen. “What now?” John asked, slightly out of breath. “Do you think he saw us following him?”

“Unlikely, but not impossible,” Sherlock frowned. “Oliver, Castiel Roman, Richard Roman, Roman Enterprises, blackmail possible,” he stopped and turned to John, “Did the kidnappers make the call? Did they call the victim’s family?”

“How am I supposed to know?”

Sherlock groaned. He wanted to claw his eyes out. “Why do I even let you in on the cases?” he sighed and twirled on his heel. Then he changed his mind and turned back to the alley the mysterious man disappeared into. He took a few steps forward, when John called, “Come on, Sherlock, this is futile. You won’t find anyone there. He’s probably long gone.”

“Who’s gone?” a sleek voice from behind him made John jump out of his shoes. He turned around and came face to face with what could only be their mystery man. John’s throat closed up. The man radiated bad energy.

“My little brother, sir,” Sherlock piped in. “Maybe you’ve seen him? A year younger than me, shorter than me, black hair, blue eyes?” Sherlock listed, remembering the photo of Castiel that had Alex sent him. He watched the man closely, to see if there will be any reaction, and sure enough, the man’s eyes narrowed slightly before he answered, “Never saw him. Kids don’t hang out much in this area. Maybe you should go search some other places.”

Sherlock nodded, “Thank you for your help, sir. But I won’t stop looking for him until a find him. Have a good evening sir.” He started walking away and John followed him. 

\-----

“You’ve gone bonkers!” John hissed at Sherlock as the said boy tried to climb up the fire escape ladders.

“Come on John, where’s your sense of adventure?” Sherlock finally managed to pull the ladder down and started climbing. “You with me or do I need to make you sign a contract first?”

John grumbled, he seemed to be doing that a lot lately- or maybe it was only around Sherlock.

They shimmied up the stairs until they reached the roof. Sherlock panted quietly and leaned against the door that leads into the building. He nudged it open with his shoulder, the hinges creaked and screeched.

John made a face, “Are you sure we should be doing this?” He asked, unsure as they entered the old warehouse of some sort.

“Oh, we absolutely should not be doing this!” Sherlock exclaimed and moved swift as the coursing river down the indoors stairs.

“Sherlock!” John growled and launched after him.

After several minutes of descending they reached a large room that held boxes of various shapes and sizes. Sherlock stopped John and motioned for him to be quiet. “The man from earlier,” He whispered and pointed to a figure in the far corner of the room. “He’s not alone; there are three more people with him. Two of them I don’t know, but the short and scrawny character must be Oliver.”

“Anything on the man from earlier?” John asked as they observed the conversation. The people were too far away to hear anything.

“He’s relatively short, wears fancy expensive suit, probably Italian, and dress shoes- a businessman obviously in charge wherever he works. Silk tie, his wallet is very thick. An expensive watch, not his style- gift from a loved one, most likely wife. Earlier I noticed red and blonde coloured hairs on his suit jacket- one of which must be a daughter unless he has a son with long hair. Probably comes from the posh part of town. Intelligent and sneaky considering he caught us tailing him.” Sherlock ranted on as fast as he could.

John nodded, “Okay so: he’s a rich fat man with a family. Doesn’t give him much of a motive for kidnapping.”

“And yet here he is, talking to Oliver. We need to figure out which company he is in charge of and if it has to do anything with that.” Sherlock turned around and headed back to the stairs.

“And his connection to Roman Enterprises.” John added.

“That as well.” He said.

They reached the roof and waited for the men to leave the building. They saw the mystery man leave in a hurry and get into his shiny car ( _Bentley, by the looks of it)_. The car stirred up a storm of dust as it rushed away.

\-----

Charles was feeling slightly nervous. He was the last one at the pick-up spot and nobody has come to get him in over an hour. Okay, maybe he was more than _slightly_ nervous.

He looked around and checked his phone again, for the tenth time in the last 3 minutes.

Suddenly there was a sound of screeching tires in the distance as a black car rounded the corner.

He breathed a sigh of relief, finally. He got into the car quietly and looked at a distressed looking Mr. Crowley.

“I’m sorry I’m late, lad, the office kept me busier than usual today.” The man said, somewhat irritated.

Charles nodded, “I understand.” It was all he said, the ride back to the house was spent in awkward silence. _This isn’t suspicious at all,_ Charles thought to himself as he texted Rose about it.

\-----

Rose scrolled through Charles’ texts with furrowed eyebrows. So Mr. Masters was an hour late. Why didn’t he call his wife and get her to pick Charles up somehow? Or at least let Charles know that he would be arriving late. She texted those thoughts to Charles but he didn’t have any explanation either. The Masters had Charles’ (and Castiel’s) phone numbers, and there was Naomi’s Porsche in the garage next to Crowley’s Mercedes.  Maybe Crowley just forgot that there was a foreign kid waiting for him somewhere in London. To err is human and all that.

Rose sighed. It was probably nothing.

_Don’t worry about it. The important thing is that you’re home now,_ she texted Charles and then they wished each other good night _._ But Rose couldn’t sleep. She had a queasy feeling in the stomach. She tossed and turned until she eventually fell asleep from mere exhaust.  


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> nearing to the end

Charles woke up with a start. He was panting and he was sweaty, his night shirt clung to his chest tightly. He shook his head and moved a shaky hand to comb through his hair. He had been plagued with nightmares the whole night; he was still shook up about the last one where Crowley was chasing him holding, what looked to be, a lower jaw of some animal.

He shook his head and stood up on wobbly legs, he shuffled off to the bathroom to take a shower and peel off his sweaty clothes.

Shower was always such a good place to contemplate life. So as the water beat down against his aching, muscular back he pondered on what he was going to do. He watched the liquid swirl down the drain as he made his decision.

He stumbled as he stepped out of the shower and he glared at his reflection in the mirror. He pointed a finger at it.

“You are gonna man up, grow a pair and conduct an investigation of your own!” He said to himself firmly as he toweled off his hair. He planned out his morning; he was going to sit with them and have breakfast and ask some questions about Crowley’s whereabouts last night. Maybe take a picture of the man, just to be sure- or find one online, that would be more convenient.

Nearly tripping over his own feet as he left the bathroom, he headed to get dressed and prepared for the questioning.

He muttered to himself, “0800 a.m. Location: Masters’ household, objective: question C.”

\-----

After a quick Google search, Charles’ phone dropped from his hand on the bed. Charles only continued staring at the wall, trying to process all the information he’s just uncovered. It turned out that Crowley Masters was the CEO of a British oil company called Inferno. Charles knew his hosts were rich. The whole place reeked of money. But the Masters family was literally swimming in it.

Okay, maybe not literally. For a second, Charles got distracted by imagining Crowley in Speedos, swimming through piles of money.

Charles shook his head to chase the image away. There was a soft knock on the door.

“Come in,” Charles said as he shot up from the bed and straightened his clothes.

Naomi poked her head in, “Good morning. Breakfast is on the table; hurry up before it gets cold.” She smiled, which was weird to see. She usually had such a stern countenance.

Charles awkwardly smiled back, “I’ll be right down.”

Meg didn’t join them at the table. She was probably still blissfully asleep. After all, she was on school holidays. But both Masters elders were present and Charles had no one to back him up. It made him a little nervous, but he remembered his resolution. He will find out where Crowley was last night.

He cleared his throat, “So… These eggs are great.”

He received looks from both adults. “Thank you. Do you like eggs?” Naomi asked.

“I love them!” This had to be the lamest conversation ever. He’d have to turn it around really quick. “They’re full of protein and low on calories. They’re a great day to start a day, especially after a good night of sleep.”

Naomi nodded unenthusiastically. Charles rushed on, “Speaking of. How did everyone sleep last night? I hope your having me here isn’t inconveniencing you that much.”

“Oh, I slept like a baby. Don’t you worry for one second. We have a teenage daughter, and you seem like an angel next to her. If anyone is giving us trouble, it’s her,” Naomi chuckled.

Charles smiled at her, then turned to Crowley, “What about you, Mr. Masters? Slept well?”

Crowley gave him an odd look that sent shivers down his spine, “You didn’t wake me up, if that’s what you’re asking. If you did, I’d let you know, don’t doubt it.” He glanced at his watch that Naomi bought him for their anniversary, “It’s almost eight. You’ll be late.”

Charles cursed silently and quickly shoveled in the rest of his eggs Benedict into his mouth.

Only when he left the house did he realize that while Crowley didn’t give him a direct answer, he acknowledged that he was awake at some ungodly hour. Charles had a rising suspicion that Crowley was keeping something a secret.

\-----

_‘Meet me at the Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain today at noon. -SH’_ The text that woke her, up at the ungodly hour of 6 a.m., read. Alex couldn’t help but feel a thrill shoot down her spine. _He must have something important to tell us_ , she thought enthusiastically. Piccadilly Circus was near Oxford Street where they were heading today for a day of shopping. Too bad she wouldn’t get to do any actual shopping; she really wanted to find the Drop Dead Clothing Store, but news about Cas were far more important than band merchandise.

She groggily flipped over and threw a pillow at rose from across the room. “ _Rose_ ” She hissed at her peacefully sleeping friend.

“What?!” Rose groaned into the pillow.

“We need to meet with Sherlock today, he sent me a text.” Alex grumbled.

“You woke me up to tell me that?” Rose was too tired to even glare at the raven-haired nuisance.

“If I ain’t sleepin’, neither are you!” Alex growled out moodily.

\-----

Back in the bus again, everything seemed too calm- the proverbial calm before the storm. Dean looked over at all the people who seemed mellow today. Nobody was chattering excitedly even though they had a day of shopping promised. Free to roam the streets of London, well, street. Oxford Street was notorious for its length and Dean had no doubt that Rose and Alex would have scaled up and down every store if they had the chance.

He rubbed a hand over his face. He knew it wasn’t his fault, by now everyone kept telling him so, but he couldn’t help feeling like it was.

“Hey, you okay?” Dan asked him carefully.

“Yeah, fine.” Dean replied curtly.

“Yes, because ‘fine’ always sounds so promising.” Dan quirked an eyebrow at his friend.

“Okay, okay. I’m stressed and I just want to go home and never leave town ever again.” Dean slumped in his seat. He felt so utterly helpless and it was driving him insane. Dan could only nod sympathetically and pat his shoulder.

“Did you know Crowley is swimming in money?” Charles interjected suddenly.

“What like, literally or figuratively?” Dan asked.

“Though the thought of him swimming in money is hilarious, no. I mean, he’s loaded- besides the obvious swimming in money, I’m talking I-have-shirts-made-out-of-dolla-billz rich.” Charles switched on his phone to show them a picture of the man since they had never seen him.

“Looks like it, too.” Dan remarked, scrunching up his nose at the cover of _Forbes_.

“Hey Lexie, where are we supposed to meet Sherlock?” Charles asked brightly.

Alex snapped her head around and glared at the grinning boy, “First of all- don’t call me that, only my mum calls me that and it annoys the frick out of me. Second of all- I told you, Piccadilly Circus at the goddamn fountain.”

“Jeesh, what’s got you riled up?” Dan asked.

“Bloody idiot texted me at 6 a.m. like I’m a goddamn rooster and I wake up with the sun.” Alex grouched loudly. She didn’t even have the will to retaliate to Dan’s rudeness. Today was not going to be a good day.

\-----

Rose was once again rudely woken from her catnap when the bus screeched to a stop.

“Come on, you’re blocking the way.” Next to her, Alex poked her from the window seat.

“Alright, alright,” Rose said, grabbing her bag and squirming out of the seat, “Can you blame me for wanting to sleep a little longer?”

“You’ll sleep when you’re dead.”

“By the looks of it, that could be very soon,” Rose sighed.

\-----

Once the professors made sure everyone knew when and where to meet in the afternoon, they let the kids run wild. It was a day dedicated to free-roaming one of the most famous streets in London: the Oxford Street.

Instead of splashing out on clothes and whatnot, the group made their way to Piccadilly Circus once again. It wasn’t that long a walk, but with all the people out on the street, it was difficult to dash through. When they finally arrived, Alex checked her phone. There were no new messages and it was only 11:25. “What now,” she asked no one in particular.

“I don’t know about you,” Charles said with a determined look in his eyes, “But I’m taking a picture of myself next to that big statue that I don’t know the name of.”

They spent the next half an hour goofing around, taking pictures next to _that big statue_ (“It’s called Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain,” Rose informed them) and generally exploring the square.

They were in the middle of taking a group selfie when Dan spotted Sherlock observing them. Dan opened his mouth to say something and at that moment Alex took the photo.

“Dan, man, what’s with the face,” she frowned at her tablet.

Sherlock was suddenly next to them, his face unreadable.

“Ah, you’re here,” Alex said. Dean blushed a little. This strange self-proclaimed junior detective kept catching them unawares. He was gathering information on their missing friend, and they were joking around and acting like… well, like tourists, which they were. And it didn’t feel bad, being a tourist and letting go of all worries, if only for a moment. He wished to go back to that moment, but when Sherlock showed up, they received a grim reminder of why they’re actually here.

Fortunately for them, Sherlock made no remark on their goofing off and he greeted them with a nod.

“I have made a recent discovery that I thought you might be interested in.” He stated coolly.

“Well, lay it on us.” Alex crossed her arms over her chest. Feeling uneasy under the older boy’s scrutinizing gaze.

“John, my sidekick, and I took a walk down at the docks yesterday and we came across a shifty looking bloke in a long black coat. We stalked him as he entered a warehouse and saw him speaking to Oliver. We think that’s where he’s keeping Castiel but we still don’t know what his motives are.” Sherlock steadily explained.

The group collectively nodded only Charles piped up. “What does this guy look like?”

Sherlock rolled his eyes, “Relatively short, short dark but graying hair, dressed fancy. A little on the not-skinny side, wears a tacky wristwatch.”

Charles stiffened and scrolled through his phone pictures, most were of Rose and the gang. He paused and zoomed in on the picture he was looking for.

“Could this be him?” He asked, fearing the answer.

“I… Where did you get that picture? Yes, that is the man!” Sherlock exclaimed, surprised.

Charles gulped as the others stared in silence, “That’s Crowley Masters; I’m staying at his house, both Cas and I were.”

“Well that’s not good.” Sherlock concluded.

“Yeah, no shit, Sherlock.” Dean snapped at him.

\-----

“If what you’re saying is true, and I suppose it is, then he has a perfectly good reason to kidnap Castiel.” Sherlock told the teens that had sat down at the fountain after the revelation.

“How come?” Dan asked.

Sherlock glared at him, “I was getting to that.” Dan withered under his glare. “Crowley owns oil companies across several countries. The chain of companies is called Inferno. Last year they suffered a great loss of funds and resources after they had taken a public hit. They were blamed for the oil spill in the Timor Sea, half of their oil wells, pumpjacks and refineries have been shut down since. Their Public Relations office is not the best at handling sudden situations.”

“Who’s in charge of the office?” Charles asked curiously.

“Some woman named Bela Talbot,” Sherlock flailed a hand around to motion that isn’t important.

“Hey, that’s the woman Dan and I are staying with!” Dean surged to his feet, “He must have been informing them about us!” Dean fumed loudly; he clenched his fists at his sides.

“Possibly, but that still doesn’t explain why they took Cas.” Rose gently guided Dean down to sit between her and Charles. They both petted him until he stopped trying to tear holes in his palms with his nails.

“As I was saying. This is where the Roman Enterprises comes in. The company is involved in many different markets, like real-estate and the food industry, as it owns several subsidiaries. Recently they have been branching out to the oil industry and environment protection. Trying to appeal to the public and all that.” Sherlock took a quick breath and steadied himself.

“So let me guess, Roman was the one that complained about the oil spill?” Alex cocked an eyebrow.

“Yes. The oil spill would have been swept under the carpet if and wouldn’t even have been noticed if Roman Enterprises hadn’t filed a report. I don’t know how I hadn’t recognized Mr. Masters at once. It’s blatantly obvious now. He must be trying to save his wealth and company.” Sherlock plopped down onto the fountain gracefully.

“But the ransom?” Rose inquired.

“He doesn’t need money, that is obvious, but he does need Roman to pull his company out of his territory. He may also be asking for a fair share of stocks on the stock market. Whoever is the shareholder basically owns the company.” He sighed with content. Finally he was getting somewhere.

“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s save us a Cas!” Dean jumped up and dashed down the street.

The merry band of teens scrabbled up and dashed after him quickly, determined not to lose yet another member.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nearing the end, things are getting intense

“Dean, wait up!” Rose screamed after Dean, while the gang tried to catch up to him. He glanced back and slowed to a jog. He couldn’t stand still anymore. He felt so useless during this whole fiasco and now was finally time to take action.

He turned to his friends only when both Charles and Dan dragged him back.

“Goodness gracious, Dean, you can’t just wander off!” Charles’s words were angry, but Dean saw real concern in his friend’s eyes.

“You don’t even know where you’re going,” Alex panted, winded after a short sprint through the maze of people. “Sherlock is the only one who knows which building we’re looking for.”

“Besides,” Rose added, “we have no kind of plan. At all.”

“Unless you were planning to just barge in there and save your boyfriend with the sheer power of love?” Sherlock cocked an eyebrow at him.

Dean was beginning to realize his mistake, “I...well... kind of... Wait, we never told you he was my boyfriend!”

Sherlock didn’t grace him with an answer. Instead, he started walking away. After a few steps, he turned. “Come now, what are you waiting for?”

They all followed him, expecting him to lead them straight to the warehouse they were looking for. But, as soon as they made a couple of turns, they stopped abruptly. Sherlock has led them to a Pizza Hut.

“Seriously?” Dan asked. At the same time, his stomach rumbled.

“It’s almost 1 p.m.” Sherlock checked his watch, “Lunch’s on me.”

“Wooo,” Charles dashed into the locale and everyone followed him.

Well, almost everyone. Dean stayed behind, falling into step with Sherlock, who wouldn’t be seen running into a pizza place with a bunch of kids, even though they were only a year younger than him.

“Hey,” Dean started, “I really appreciate everything you’re doing for us. I don’t just mean buying us a pizza,” he chuckled silently, running a hand through his hair. “Thank you for taking the case, I mean. You took it with almost no questions asked. Had we involved the police, I imagine the situation would have been quite different.”

Sherlock gave him a small smile as they entered the restaurant and squished themselves into a booth with the rest of the friends.

“Hello, I’m Erik and I’ll be your waiter today,” a voice floated over them and they turned to the young man with a bored look on his face that was waiting on them. They placed their orders and the man was gone in a blink of an eye.

_At least they’re efficient_ , Dean thought. _The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we get to help Cas._

“Okay, everybody, listen up,” Sherlock said, taking over his (rightful) role of a leader. “Let’s get down to business.”

“To defeat the Huns?” Rose asked, quoting a Disney song.

“Did they send me daughters?” Charles sang along.

“When I askeeeed for sons?” Dean finished the verse and they all burst out laughing. The death glare Sherlock shot them quickly sobered them up.

“As I was saying, I didn’t invite you over for lunch without reason. We need time to organize and assemble our thoughts. The food is just a bonus.”

“And it also helps that we won’t be hungry while rescuing Cas,” Alex said. “We’re like the Avengers, except we’re having a pizza while they had shawarmas.”

“Except they ate after a job well done, not before even doing anything,” Dean mumbled, but no one heard him. They zeroed in on their approaching pizza. Erik the waiter was balancing their extra large Supreme pizza and somehow carrying their cutlery in the other hand.

“Here you go,” he said as the smell washed over them and even Dean realized he was getting pretty hungry.

Dan, who had the aisle seat, accidentally knocked his fork over. He dived after it, but Erik the waiter miraculously caught it midair. “Whoa, thanks,” Dan said.

Erik gave them a nod, “Enjoy your meal.”

Alex unabashedly stared at the sway of the guy’s hips as he walked away. Rose elbowed her painfully.

When he was gone, they finally started debating their options. After some disagreement, they came to a conclusion: they would go to the warehouse, call the police and wait for them there. Not surprisingly, Dean voted for them to rush in and attempt to take the goons over using baseball bats. The idea had been disregarded because of the lack of baseball bats and lack of suicidal wishes.

“Now, Dean, this is crucial- do not, I repeat _do_ _not_ go in on your own or before the police arrives.” Sherlock locked his gaze with Dean and channelled as much conviction as he possibly could.

“Oh _come on_ , I’m not that stupid.” Dean crossed his hands across his chest and pouted.

“You may not be stupid but you are quite reckless and hot-headed.” Sherlock stared at him still.

Alex, whose eyes were still subtly tracking the waiter across the room, spoke softly “You know he’s right, Dean. At least notify us if you’re about to do something crazy or just don’t do it at all.” She levelled him with a soft look in her eyes and Rose nodded as well.

“We’re with you, Dean; you’re not in this alone.” Charles patted him.

“Till the end of the line,” Rose whispered harshly earning herself a punch from Alex who was about to tear up.

“Again with the references,” Dean rolled his eyes, “But I appreciate it none the less. It means a lot, guys.” He smiled at them a little.

Sherlock broke the silence that followed with a clap of hands. “Excellent, well then- let’s pay and get out of here.”

“Wait,” Rose put her hand up like she was in school, successfully drawing everyone’s attention. “Um, I need to pee.”

Dean groaned silently. Just when he thought they were finally ready to take off.

\-----

Alex joined Rose on the short detour to the toilets. They brought their half-empty water bottles with them. They figured it would be a good idea to fill them up while they’re here. “After all,” Rose said, “It’s important to stay hydrated.” She got an evil glint in her eye.

Alex widened her eyes, “No, no! Don-“

“Hail Hydra,” Rose whispered before Alex could stop her. Rose laughed at her friend’s groan.

“What would Steve say?” Alex shook her head sadly.

“Oh come on,” Rose moved to was her hands as Alex was getting ready to fill up the water bottle.

“No! Oh good God, no!” Alex exclaimed loudly with a following groan and a smack to her forehead.

“What is it?” Rose looked at her friend, worried at the sudden outburst of rage.

“They only have warm water coming from the taps!” Alex hissed as she stared down where the water was swirling before disappearing down the drain. Along with their hopes of hydration.

After exiting the bathroom, promptly pissed, Alex smashed into their waiter Erik and they both went down. Both of them spluttered and apologized as Rose took pictures of them on the floor secretly.

They proceeded to rejoin the gang, Alex red as the hat on the Pizza Hut logo.

“Can we go _now?_ ” Sherlock asked, one hand on his hip and a foot tapping the tiled floor impatiently.

The girls nodded and Sherlock was out the door before anyone could say anything else.

\-----

Sherlock led them through a maze of streets, some were damp and suspicious looking while other were bustling with people. They even passed by the Charing Cross again. Once they crossed the river they delved deeper into the city once again.

After quite an amount of walking Alex piped up, “That’s St. Saviour’s dock isn’t it?”

Sherlock hummed, “A community of Cluniac monks resided at Bermondsey Abbey close to the site from 1082 onwards. They turned the adjacent tidal inlet at the mouth of the River Neckinger into the priory's dock, and named it Saint Saviour's. This provided a safe landing for Bishops and goods below the traditional first crossing.” He informed them additionally.

“Whoa, that was a lot of knowledge!” Rose beamed with stars in her eyes; she was taken by the Brit’s intelligence. Charles nudged her and adopted a look of true, heartfelt sadness. She sighed and hugged him briefly. “You sure are needy,” She smiled at him sweetly.

Alex approached him and gave him a cookie, “Don’t feel bad, moon moon, maybe one day you can be as smart as Sherlock.” She patted his head as he happily munched on the cookie.

“We’re close, I’ll phone the Scotland Yard.” Sherlock stopped in the shade of a tall building and pulled out his phone.

They all waited patiently as Sherlock talked to some guy named Gavin, Graham, or Geoff who worked in the police department. It took him a while to explain the predicament that the teens have found themselves in. After what seemed to be a lecture from the man on the phone Sherlock hung up and turned to the group.

“They’re notifying the police so there will be a few cars plus some detectives; they don’t exactly trust me even though I have helped them over the years. I still am only 19 years old and they doubt my skill.” He said resentfully. He proceeded to walk them to, what they presumed was the warehouse.

“How far is the police station?” Dean asked, shifting nervously on his feet.

“About twenty minutes from here, why?” Sherlock questioned with a raised eyebrow. 

“Because I’m about to do something really stupid,” Dean said as he darted around the corner of the building in a sprint.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A cliffhanger :3


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Managed to convince HJM to write some more, we are really coming to a close with this.   
> I'm sorry we're such huge dorks   
> BBC needs Sherlock in summer clothes

The warehouse was a crumbling old thing. It looked sad in the bright daylight. Boards were nailed over the windows and graffiti painted all over the facade. It was the kind of place rebel teenagers used as their edgy hang out. In short, it looked like it would fall apart any minute.

And Dean was running straight to it.

To his surprise, the front door was locked and chained, which meant that his earlier presumption about kids using this as public property was wrong. He was glad he hadn’t had time to share his train of thought with Sherlock, because the wunderkind would surely laugh at his poor attempts of deduction.

He tried the door once more, for good measure. The chain clinked softly.

He quickly scanned the front, in search of another entrance. Windows on the upper floor weren’t barricaded, but there was no way he’d manage to scale the building that far up.

Approaching footsteps made him turn around. He was ready to pounce on the intruder (momentarily forgetting that he is, in fact, the intruder here). He let out the breath he didn’t know he’d been holding when he realized that it was just his friends running after him. Sherlock’s coat was billowing after him as he ran, his long legs giving him an advancement over the rest of them.

“Dimwit,” Sherlock hissed at him. “You can’t just try to barge in like that and then rattle the door. Have we been playing a game? _Who can let the whole street know something’s about to happen faster_?”

“It wasn’t even that loud,” Dean said through his teeth.

“We don’t have time for this,” Rose was starting to say, when Sherlock so rudely interrupted her.

“Exactly, we need to make a move now, while we still have about 73% chance of an element of surprise,” Sherlock gestured them to follow him around the building. “Come now, don’t be shy,” he said when Dean seemed reluctant to follow his lead, “I know the way, I’ve been here before.”

“You have?” Alex spoke up.

“Yes, John and I went exploring the other night,” Sherlock said as he paced forward.

“Oh, and do you and this John often go exploring together?” Alex raised her eyebrows.

Sherlock shot her a baffled look over his shoulder, “It wasn’t our first time, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Alex was still cackling when Sherlock made a turn and brought them to the fire escape ladder. Her quiet laughter quickly died down when she saw where he was leading them.

“You’ve got to be kidding,” Dean said, matching her look of dread with his identical one.

“Is there a problem?” Sherlock asked, not bothering to glance back as he was pulling down the ladder.

“A problem, of course there’s a problem! I’m terrified of heights, so is Romeo over here,” Alex’s voice got extremely high as she explained and pointed at Dean.

“That’s rough, buddy.” Sherlock looked at Dean and smiled; he proceeded to stretch out and pull the stairs down.

“I was wondering,” Charles stepped up to Sherlock casually.

“Not surprised,” Sherlock muttered quietly.

“How come you’re wearing a coat, it’s like, boiling hot outside.” Charles fanned himself for effect.

Sherlock stared at him for some time before he seemingly decided it wasn’t worth answering the teen. He just started walking up the stairs.

“Hey! We still have a problem!” Alex wheezed.

“Come on, the sooner we get going the sooner we’ll be over with it.” Dean took a deep breath and started following Rose and Sherlock, who were already a floor above.

Alex was muttering the word ‘shit’ repeatedly under her breath when she felt an arm on her back. She looked to the side and saw Dan with honest blue eyes looking at her.

“Come on, I’ll be right behind you.” He smiled reassuringly.

She just nodded mutedly and started climbing.

\-----

Once they were at the top, most of them were panting and huffing from the climb. The warehouse was _tall._ Alex pulled her phone out with shaky fingers and snapped a photo of the view while Dan stood near her in case she got the urge to faint. Rose plopped down onto the ledge and Charles joined her. Only Dean was jumping up and down nervously next to the doors that lead into the building.

Sherlock rolled his eyes at the teens, “Exhausted just from the climb up? How are you supposed to survive the climb down the stairs that are behind those doors? Not to mention the maze of corridors that we will have to scour quickly in order to find your friend as soon as possible.” He tapped his foot against the roof impatiently.

It seemed as though they all sighed in unions- but didn’t make a move to get up.

Dean moved closer to Alex, “You okay?” He asked, knowing well how she dealt (or didn’t deal) with heights and physical activity.

She nodded, “Yeah, had some help on the way up.” She smiled gratefully at Dan.

Dean looked at them curiously, this was probably the first time since the trip started that they weren’t bickering or glaring at each other. Though, Alex usually did the glaring while Dan just looked like a kicked puppy.

He looked over to Rose and Charles who were having a hushed, cutesy conversation and frowned. God damn it, he missed Cas so much. He couldn’t wait to get home to his crappy town, his family, his life and his Baby. He had almost forgotten about his car, he was ashamed of himself. He couldn’t wait to take Cas on a ride when they got home. Suddenly he blushed at his own thoughts. _Get it together, Dean._ This situation was far too important; he couldn’t afford being distracted by Cas. Cas and his soft lips, and his firm body, and his _oh so blue_ eyes.

There were fingers snapping in front of his face and he twitched.

“Earth to loverboy, we need to move.” Alex was back to her glaring self and he could do nothing but nod dumbly and trample down his feelings- for now.

\------

The only good thing about going down the infinite flights of stairs was the fact that they weren’t going up. The space was dark and stuffy and it got darker and stuffier by the minute. They barely saw where they were going and every few minutes someone would stumble.

They finally came to a stop when Sherlock decided they’ve been going down long enough. “We’re below ground level now, which is probably where the real fun begins.” This earned him silent groans from Dean and Dan, and an upset look from Rose (which wasn’t visible in the darkness that was now enveloping them). “We’ll try the corridor to the left. There aren’t enough clues here for me to know exactly where we’re going, so we’ll have to guess,” Sherlock said, the words almost hurting him. It was painful to admit he didn’t have an answer to everything. “Now, I want complete silence. Follow me.”

The only sound that could be heard was the shuffling of their feet as they started descending again.

“Shit,” Rose yelped as she missed a step and crashed into Charles, almost sending them both tumbling down. “Almost died, yo,” she whispered to herself. She was simultaneously hushed by three other people. _Their silencing me was louder than me speaking_ , she thought to herself, but said nothing, so as not to produce even more noise. The silence was choking her and she was in a constant fear someone would jump out of the shadows and attack them. Their weak phone light did little to disperse the darkness. She just wanted to get out of there as soon as they could. The sooner they save Cas the better.

They came to an abrupt halt and Dean crashed into Sherlock, Alex crashed into Dean and Dan into her. Rose was stopped by Charles who miraculously saw the crash coming.

Sherlock slowly turned the handle of the door and cringed as it squealed in protest. He made a pained sound when he started opening the door because it squeaked louder than the knob.

“So much for being silent, I’d say our chances of surprising them have simmered down to 60%. Maybe 55%.” He said in a hushed tone.

Dean sighed and shooed him out the staircase and into a long corridor. They tiptoed along the wall trying not to make noise, which was hard because Rose’s slightly heeled ankle boots would clack ever so often and they’d all freeze. They weren’t making much progress.

“At this rate, we’re not going to find him at all!” Dean growled out and pushed passed Sherlock. “I'm so done with this silence thing” He said with his outdoor voice.

“Dean, no!” Sherlock hissed as Dean shouldered the door to their right open. It didn’t budge.

Just as he was about to try again, the door opened and he bounced off of two strong bodies blocking the way. Dean ended up landing on his ass looking at the familiar faces of Stan and Lee.

“Son of a bitch.”

**Author's Note:**

> Stay tuned for the rest, check out my profile on FF.net -Marionette008  
> (Shameless self-promotion)  
> Also check out my companion's profile- HermioneJMalfoy  
> Oh and Charles is NOT the Chuck from the show.


End file.
